3D Concrete Printing Technology: Construction and Building Applications

reality.

Chapter 1

3D Concrete Printing for Construction Applications

Jay G. Sanjayan and Behzad Nematollahi,    Centre for Sustainable Infrastructure, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC, Australia

Abstract

3D concrete printing in construction applications is an innovative and challenging area of research which combines the knowledge of traditional construction with digital fabrication. The elimination of formwork plus several other major benefits may trigger the industry to focus on this area in the near future. There has been increased attention on academic research and industrial applications in this area. This chapter briefly introduces the methods touted currently as well as the background of free-form construction.

Keywords

Additive manufacturing; powder-based 3D printing; extrusion-based 3D printing; free-form construction

1.1 Introduction

Construction is one of the largest sectors of the global economy with construction-related spending at $10 trillion globally, equivalent to 13% of GDP. However, construction has shown remarkably poor productivity gains relative to other sectors. Under these conditions, the global infrastructure and housing construction industry will lag behind and not meet the global demand [1]. This situation is further exacerbated in Australia, for example, by inefficiencies and difficulties of delivering appropriate infrastructure in remote areas. The cost of building an average house in remote communities in Australia is, on average, USD 600k [2], which is much more expensive than in urban regions.

Since the discovery of modern concrete in the 19th century, many researchers have sought to automate concrete construction without much success. Thomas Edison’s attempt to create a machine to build concrete houses in a single pour, which he patented in 1917 (Fig. 1.1), was a well-documented failure due to technological challenges in concrete. The great inventor is said to have spent as much time with his concrete house project as with his other inventions, but the complexity of concrete eluded him. Concrete as a construction material appears deceptively simple, but has many hidden challenges. Many advancements in concrete construction technologies have been made since then, including innovative development in concrete pumping technologies and admixture technologies. However, it is also commonplace to find construction sites transporting, placing, compacting, and curing concrete using technologies that are more than 100 years old. Concrete construction remains labor intensive, costly, and highly accident prone.

Figure 1.1 Thomas Edison with his single pour concrete house.

Annual production of concrete is reaching nearly 30 billion tons worldwide [3], making it the most widely used construction material. However, the concrete itself plays only a partial role since the formwork represents 35%–60% of the overall cost of concrete construction [4]. Formwork is the temporary structure and mold for pouring wet concrete into and is typically built with timber. Formwork represents a significant source of waste, given that all formwork is discarded sooner or later, contributing to the generally increasing amount of waste worldwide. According to a study from 2011 [5], 80% of the total worldwide waste is generated in the construction industry, with significant contributions from formwork timber which has limited reuse value. Further, pouring concrete into formworks limits the creativity of architects to build in various geometries unless very high costs are paid for bespoke formworks. Unlike the conventional approach of casting into a mold, 3D concrete printing (3DCP) is an emerging technology that combines digital technologies and new insights from materials technologies to allow free-form construction without the use of formwork. 3DCP is a type of additive manufacturing technique where the construction is through layer-by-layer addition of material.

Two state-of-the-art processes currently leading the 3DCP field are [6]: (1) The Single Deposition Nozzle Concrete Printer which is similar to fused deposition modeling. Contour Crafting is another technology where concrete is extruded against trowel; and (2) powder deposition process where the ink is deposited on a powder bed. There is no clear winner at this stage. Further research in materials and structural forms will eventually decide the direction of the technology for the future. It is, therefore, important for researchers to experiment with both leading 3DCP technologies.

The lack in underpinning concrete materials technology research has been identified as hampering progress in 3DCP [7]. The four key characteristics of the fresh concrete relevant to 3D printing identified by Le et al. [8] are: (1) Pumpability: the ease and reliability with which material is moved through the delivery system; (2) Printability: the ease and reliability of depositing material through a deposition device; (3) Buildability: the resistance of deposited wet material to deformation under load; and (4) Open time: the period where these properties are consistent within acceptable tolerances.

1.2 3D Printing in Construction

Pegna [9] was the first successful researcher who tried to adopt additive manufacturing in construction applications. The process was in the form of making structures with sand and then using cement as an adhesive. When compared with conventional construction processes, the application of 3D printing techniques in concrete construction may offer excellent advantages including:

1. Reduction of construction costs by eliminating formwork.

2. Reduction of injury rates by eliminating dangerous jobs (e.g., working at heights), which would result in an increased level of safety in construction.

3. Creation of high-end, technology-based jobs.

4. Reduction of onsite construction time by operating at a constant rate.

5. Minimizing the chance of errors by precise material deposition.

6. Increasing sustainability in construction by reducing wastages of formwork.

7. Increasing architectural freedom, which would enable more sophisticated designs for structural and esthetic purposes.

8. Enabling the potential of multifunctionality for structural/architectural elements by taking advantage of the complex geometry [10,11].

1.3 Extrusion-Based 3D Concrete Printing

The extrusion-based 3DCP is similar to the fused deposition modeling used in polymer and metal technologies. Contour crafting is one of the proprietary terminologies used for the layered fabrication technology that has been under development for almost 15 years [12]. It is based on extruding a cement-based concrete against a trowel that allows a smooth surface finish created through the build-up of subsequent layers. The current deposition head is capable of laying down material to create a full-width structural wall (Fig. 1.2). Contour Crafting technology allows a variety of materials (such as mortar, concrete, cement pastes and fiber-reinforced concrete) to be investigated (Fig. 1.2). Contour Crafting was selected by NASA for its Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) to explore the use of building a Lunar Settlement infrastructure [13].

Figure 1.2 Extrusion-based 3D concrete printing [9].

Another fused deposition modeling type technology that was introduced during the early stages is led by the 3DCP group at Loughborough University which conducted a series of early trials on this technology [6].

1.3.1 Current Examples of Extrusion-Based 3D Concrete Printing Elements/Structures

In 2014, the Chinese Winsun company claimed to have built 10 basic houses in less than a day, with the area and cost of each being about 195 m² and US$4800, respectively. The company used a large extrusion-based 3D printer to manufacture the basic house components separately offsite before they were transported and assembled on site [14]. In 2015, the company built a five-story apartment building with an area of about 1100 m², currently the tallest 3D printed structure. The company also claimed to have built a stand-alone concrete villa with interior fittings for a cost of about US$160,000. The company claimed to 3D print the walls and other components of the structure offsite and then assembled them together onsite [15].

The Chinese Huashang Tengda company in Beijing has recently claimed to 3D print an entire 400 m² two-story villa onsite within 45 days (see Fig. 1.3A). Unlike the Winsun company, the Huashang Tengda company used a unique process allowing to print an entire house, onsite in one go. The frame of the house, including conventioinal steel reinforcements and plumbing pipes, were first erected. Then, ordinary Class C30 concrete-containing coarse aggregates was extruded into the framework and around the rebars through the use of a novel nozzle design and a gigantic 3D printer [16]. The Huashang Tengda project seemingly eliminated one of the major challenges of 3DCP which is the incorporation of conventional steel reinforcements when structural concrete is to be 3D printed. The company claimed that the two-story villa is durable enough to withstand an earthquake measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale. Their giant 3D printer has a sort of forked nozzle (see Fig. 1.3B) that simultaneously lays concrete on both sides of the rebars, swallowing it up, and encasing it securely within the walls [16].

Figure 1.3 (A) The two-story villa 3D printed by Huashang Tengda company; and (B) the novel nozzle of the giant 3D printer [16].

The researchers at the University Federico II of Naples, Italy used a 4 m high BIGDELTA WASP (World’s Advanced Saving Project) printer to build the first modular, reinforced-concrete beam of about 3 m long (see Fig. 1.4). With this WASP printer, the researchers have developed a system to produce concrete elements that can be assembled with steel bars and beams or can compose pillars in reinforced concrete [17].

Figure 1.4 The first 3D printed modular reinforced concrete beam of about 3 m [17].

As a result of collaboration between Supermachine Studio and the Siam Cement Group (SCG), a 3 m tall cave structure called the Y-Box Pavilion, 21st-century Cave was built in Thailand using the 4 m high BIGDELTA WASP printer (see Fig. 1.5). The components of the pavilion were 3D printed offsite at the SCG factory and then all the components were assembled together. The cost of manufacture of the pavilion was reported to be about US$28,000 [18].

Figure 1.5 The Y-Box Pavilion, 21st-century Cave 3 m tall structure [18].

In December 2016, the Apis Core company announced to have built the first onsite house in Russia using a mobile 3D concrete printer in just 24 hours (see Fig. 1.6). The entire 38 m² house was 3D printed onsite. The total construction cost was claimed to be US$10,134 [19].

Figure 1.6 Onsite 3D printed house by Apis Core. (A) Construction using a mobile 3D concrete printer; (B) house exterior [19].

1.4 Powder-Bed-Based 3D Concrete Printing

In the powder-bed process, a thin layer of powder is spread over the powder bed surface first. Once a layer is completed, binder droplets are selectively applied on the powder layer by a print-head causing powder particles to bind each other. By repeating these steps, the built part is completed and removed after a certain setting time. The unbound powder is then removed by using an air blower.

The D-shape 3D printing construction technology was introduced by Enrico Dini in Italy [20]. This process uses a powder deposition process by which the powder is selectively hardened using a binder in much the same way as the Z-Corp 3D printing process [21]. Each layer of building material is laid to the desired thickness, compacted and then the nozzles mounted on a gantry frame deposit the binder. The binders are deposited only in places where the building material should become solid and the rest is kept loose and removed at a later stage. Once a part is complete it is then dug out of the loose powder bed. The process has been used to create 1.6 m high architectural pieces called Radiolaria (Fig. 1.7).

Figure 1.7 Sculpture by D-shape process [20].

1.5 Emerging Objects

The Emerging Objects technology developed in the United States uses the powder-based technique to selectively harden a proprietary cement composite formulation by deposition of a binding agent [22]. The technology was used to manufacture Bloom (see Fig. 1.8A). Bloom is a 2.74 m tall, freestanding tempietto with a footprint that measures approximately 3.66 m by 3.66 m and is composed of 840 customized 3D printed blocks. Each block is printed using a farm of 11 powder 3D printers with a proprietary cement composite formulation comprised chiefly of iron oxide-free OPC. The blocks are held in place using stainless steel hardware and assembled into 16 large, lightweight, prefabricated panels that can be assembled in just a few hours. The technology was also used to manufacture Shed (see Fig. 1.8B). Shed is a small 3D printed prototype building constructed with Picoroco Blocks, modular 3D printed building blocks for wall fabrication printed from sand measuring 0.3×0.3×0.3 m [23].

Figure 1.8 (A) Bloom [22] and (B) Shed [23] printed by Emerging Objects.

1.6 Future Directions and Challenges

Researchers and industry professionals currently working on 3D printing using concrete envision the technology to be a major disruptor to the construction industry. The vision for futuristic house construction (Fig. 1.9) and multistory buildings using 3DCP technology (Fig. 1.10) are some examples of the aspirations of those who are currently working in this field.

Figure 1.9 A vision for house construction.

Figure 1.10 A vision of multistory construction.

Western countries, in general, have higher levels of safety regulations in construction work than developing countries, with a significant cost to the construction industry. Despite this, the injury rate in the construction sector is still one of the highest when compared to other sectors. According to the 2014 data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 52 workers in 1000 were injured in construction sector. Similarly, in the United States this number was 40 in 1000. One of the main benefits of automated construction is its potential to meaningfully decrease the number of injuries and deaths in the construction sector by avoiding many of the dangerous and laborious tasks.

References

1. McKinsey Global Institute, Reinventing construction: a route to higher productivity, <http://www.mckinsey.com/>, 2017.

2. The Auditor-General, Audit Report No. 12 2011-12 Performance Audit, Australian National Audit Office.

3. CEMBUREAU Activity Report 2013, The European Cement Association, 44 p.

4. Johnston DW. Design and construction of concrete formwork. In: Nawy Edward G, ed. Concrete Construction Engineering Handbook. New Jersey, Boca Raton: CRC Press; 2008;7.1–7.49.

5. Llatas C. A model for quantifying construction waste in projects according to the European waste list. Waste Manage. 2011;31(6):1083–1426.

6. Lim S, Buswell RA, Le TT, Austin SA, Gibb AGF, Thorpe T. Developments in construction-scale additive manufacturing processes. Autom Constr. 2012;21(1):262–268.

7. Ding L, Wei R, Che H. Development of a BIM-based automated construction system. Procedia Eng. 2014;85(C):123–131.

8. Le TT, Austin SA, Lim S, Buswell RA, Gibb AGF, Thorpe T. Mix design and fresh properties for high-performance printing concrete. Mater Struct. 2012;45(8):1221–1232.

9. Pegna J. Exploratory investigation of solid freeform construction. Autom Constr. 1997;5(5):427–437.

10. Buswell RA, Soar R, Gibb AG, Thorpe A. Freeform construction: mega-scale rapid manufacturing for construction. Autom Constr. 2007;16:224–231.

11. Gosselin C, Duballet R, Roux Ph, Gaudillière N, Dirrenberger J, Morel Ph. Large-scale 3D printing of ultra-high performance concrete – a new processing route for architects and builders. Mater Des. 2016;100:102–109.

12. Zhang J, Khoshnevis B. Optimal machine operation planning for construction by contour crafting. Autom Constr. 2013;29:50–67.

13. Khoshnevis B, Carlson A, Leach N, Thanavelu M. Contour crafting simulation plan for lunar settlement infrastructure build-up. Earth and Space 2012@ Engineering, Science, Construction, and Operations in Challenging Environments Pasadena, CA: ASCE; 2012;1458–1467.

14. L. Wang, Chinese company assembles 10 3D-printed concrete houses in a day for less than $5,000 each. On-line: <http://inhabitat.com/chinese-company-assembles-ten-3d-printed-concrete-houses-in-one-day-for-less-than-5000-each/>, (accessed 20.03.17).

15. B. Sevenson, Shanghai-based Winsun 3D prints 6-story apartment building and an incredible home. On-line: <https://3dprint.com/38144/3d-printed-apartment-building/>, (accessed 20.03.17).

16. C. Scott, Chinese construction company 3D prints an entire two-story house on-site in 45 days. On-line: <https://3dprint.com/138664/huashang-tengda-3d-print-house/>, (accessed 20.03.17).

17. WASP, Concrete beam created with 3D printing. On-line: <http://www.wasproject.it/w/en/concrete-beam-created-with-3d-printing/>, (accessed 20.03.17).

18. Alec, Thai cement maker SCG develops an elegant 3m-tall 3D printed ‘pavilion’ home, 21st C. Cave. On-line: <http://www.3ders.org/articles/20160427-thai-cement-maker-scg-develops-an-elegant-3m-tall-3d-printed-pavilion-home-21st-c-cave.html>, (accessed 20.03.17).

19. Apis Core, The first on-site house has been printed in Russia. On-line: <http://apis-cor.com/en/about/news/first-house>, (accessed 20.03.17).

20. E. Dini, D_Shape, vol. 2014. <http://www.d-shape.com>, 2014.

21. Z-Corp, Sls-based 3D printers. <http://www.zcorp.com/en/Products/3DPrinters/spage.aspx>.

22. R. Ronald Rael, V. San Fratello, Bloom. On-line: <http://www.emergingobjects.com/project/bloom-2/>, (accessed 20.03.17).

23. R. Ronald Rael, V. San Fratello, Shed. On-line: <http://www.emergingobjects.com/project/shed/>, (accessed 20.03.17).

Chapter 2

Performance-Based Testing of Portland Cement Concrete for Construction-Scale 3D Printing

Ali Kazemian¹,²,³, Xiao Yuan³, Ryan Meier¹ and Behrokh Khoshnevis¹,³,⁴,    ¹The Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States,    ²Department of Computer Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States,    ³Contour Crafting Corporation, El Segundo, CA, United States,    ⁴Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Abstract

In this chapter, a framework for performance-based laboratory testing of Portland cement-based mixtures for construction-scale 3D printing is presented. In this framework, a printing mixture in fresh state is characterized in terms of print quality, shape stability, and printability window. Print quality is described using measures of surface quality and dimensions of printed layers. Details of two proposed test methods for evaluation of shape stability, namely layer settlement and cylinder stability, are also provided. By experimental studies of four different mixtures it is shown that inclusion of silica fume and nanoclay significantly enhances shape stability. The results of some conventional tests, as well as several proposed new test methods, are used to evaluate the performance of printing