3D Concrete House Printing

The 5 Challenges of 3D Concrete Printing
The big challenge with 3D printed architecture is the material itself: concrete. If you’ve ever worked with concrete before, you’ll know that it can be a complex material. Its setting time is affected by a whole host of changeable factors, including temperature, humidity, and components. If the concrete mix is not perfect, the structure will not be as strong as it needs to be and it could fail.

Here are 5 challenges that the researchers are trying to overcome

1. Balancing Stability and Flow
3D Concrete Printing needs to exist in two different states, which have completely opposite properties.

Before it is extruded, the concrete needs to be easy to pump and achieve a consistent flow. After extrusion, the concrete needs to be stable and strong enough to support further layers of material.

2. Maintaining Workability
The workability of the wet concrete is the key to good printing. Although concrete takes a long time to harden, it quickly loses workability as soon as it is mixed. Additives like water reducing admixtures need to be added to the mix to maintain the required workability.

3. Little or No Deformation After Extrusion
3D printing involves building up layers of material one by one. Each layer is supported by the strength of the previous layer. This is a problem with wet concrete, which tends to “slump” when weight is put on top of it. The team uses a special no-slump concrete mix which can withstand the weight of the layers above, but this introduces more challenges as no-slump concrete can be difficult to pump and prone to cracking.

4. Finely Controlled Setting Times
It is vital that the team are able to precisely match the speed of the robotic 3D printer with the setting time of the concrete, reaching a “set of demand state”. The robot needs to move the printing nozzle at a precise speed. It needs to move fast enough that the layer below does not set too much — which would jeopardize the structure’s stability — but slow enough that the lower levels can hold the new concrete’s weight without collapsing.

5. Avoid Filament Cracking Around Corners
The travel speed of the nozzle is particularly important when the robot is moving around a corner. The movement around corners needs to be quick, which can cause cracking in the print “filament” (the layer of concrete). For this reason, the team’s latest development is a special nozzle which can be turned in tandem with the robot arm.

Ok.

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http://www.marinusdebeer.nl/

I'm waiting for the advert to his printer....

[snipp] -- OK, so maybe interesting after all

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/22/2020 11:01AM by VDX.

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

THis printer is under construction now , it will be finished in December , we are looking for solving a problem with the positioning on XY on multiple jobs

is under construction right now

I think the thing is that the poster doesn't introduce him/herself. So it comes across as reading a page that only explains something in a very monologue way.

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http://www.marinusdebeer.nl/

Concrete is not a very "green" material to work with however. "Perfect" concrete requires a particular sand, which we are running out of. And that shortage is spawning a new raft (pardon the pun) of sand pirates that sneak in and actually steal beaches. We need a better material to do mass produced living structures in order to make the idea sustainable. To our dismay, we have found that doing "good" takes a lot more thought than what we have done in the past.

DLC

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Kits: Folgertech Kossel 2020 upgraded E3Dv6, Anet A8 upgraded E3Dv6, Tevo Tarantula enhanced parts and dual-head, TronXY X5SA Pro(E3DHemera).
Scratch: Large bed Cartesian, exchangeable heads, Linear slide Delta, Maker-Beam XL Micro Delta, 220x220CoreXY.

... one of my ideas with the "garbage-project" was to mix coal powder with coral sand (or other mineralic or glass powder), some sort of fiber materials and lignin as "binder" -- something like "polymer concrete", but more in meaning of recycling/reusing/"green" ... this could be done here too, not only on/above the open seas

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/22/2020 01:15PM by VDX.

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

Viktor .
Over half the processes under development employ extrusion, typically a small (∼6 mm to ∼50 mm diameter) continuous filament, pumped through a nozzle often mounted on a gantry or robotic arm that positions the material during the build process. The material is typically a high cement (40%_45%) content mortar, with a maximum particle size in the order of 2 mm to 3 mm, although larger aggregates have been used. The shape of the extrusion varies and is either circular, ovular or rectangular .MIxing cement ,sand ,plastic. graphene ,basalt , ..nut never coal .it cannot bind !

... not normal coal, but more "carbonized plastic granules" -- it's meant to convert plastic garbage into an "inert" material by heating it in an autoclave without oxygene to carbonize the material.

This could be done in different variants - so maybe a sort of "carbonized sponge" granulat could be a good material for binding with sand, glass-dust and fibers?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/23/2020 04:11AM by VDX.

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

Is not possible (convert plastic garbage ) for a house or large building because the walls are self staining walls and constructions standards ! in any case the material use is reduce to > 40% , graphene can reduce the use of the steel ! the graphene walls are 100% more stronger then a usual concrete standards !

... "cabonizing" wood or plastic with special setups and after-treatment can produce much stronger materials than steel! -- it's essentially removing the "organic" part by evaporating or reducing to carbon and "remeshing" the molecular bonds vor higher strength.

With after-treatment the resulting material can be compressed (wood around to 1/6) or modified with "active" gaseous additives too for higher net stiffness.

Wood-chips converts to lightweight ceramic like particles, plastic converts to different carbon structures, including CNT's, buckyballs, graphene and such ... with proper compressing and reheating in acetylene (ethin) or methane atmosphere this could be further optimized for super-strong particles

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

... while writing the previous post I had an interesting idea -- instead of big autoclaves (which are not so easy to handle) ... what's with passing the plastic granules through hot (around 900degC) fluid metal, compressing it to something like some thousand bar? -- this could be much easier and a "single-step" process, than several heating/processing/annealing steps through different autoclaves ...

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

Plastic & wood / extruding (from waste) is a good material for outdoor/ flooring .. not for a house !
I am in the robotics and construction materials involved for 26 years !.. it will not work wood& plastic ..it is possible slabs to be reinforce with PE PP .. in same cases

... not extruding! -- more meant for modifying/converting into superstrong particles/conglomerates to replace stone and sand as "body-material" for lignin/polymer-concrete ...

***EDIT***

- you can search for "superstrong wood chips", which actually are used by DARPA projects to replace the ceramic tiles in bulletproof vests or for other new "super-structures", replacing steel or concrete ...

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/23/2020 06:34AM by VDX.

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

Honestly I don't understand the whole point of this topic. I see no question in the opening topic.

The bottom line is that I think we need affordable housing that is well insulated, has a lot of light and space and is designed with long-term use in mind. As long as new housing ideas do not meet these criteria, I am not interested in it personally. I see so many wild ideas of the "next 3D-printed house that will save humanity" but eventually all these projects end up on the 'proof of concept' pile because eventually they turn out to still just be decadent ideas.

Also, being in a field for 26 years tells me two things:
- You have a lot of experience and know how of traditional and current techniques
- This experience and knowledge is making it harder to think outside the box and makes people dismiss ideas without being open to that there might be another way of doing things

One big problem in this world is that we are still building on a non-sustainable foundation. In terms of house design, in terms of material use, in terms of a changing society (will we become more nomadic, or maybe not nomadic at all). Etc.

But I miss a question in this topic, so what's the point.

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http://www.marinusdebeer.nl/

A Bird can make a nest in one or two days, a rat in a day, but it may take a human 30 years...
[youtu.be]

Land is a problem, cheap materials another problem, if possible making a house out of pre-cast blocks of whatever material probably make the most sense, as it's readily available and you could make moulds & control curing better, if you really wanted you could try printing them....but then introduce composite sheets in the mix, other materials, interactions between them, condensation, a simple dream gets very complicated

The design above I've seen before so not new, I spotted a good one the other week where the nozzle didnt seem to need to rotate.

I am in house tech for many years including i do have a construction Co. and i am involved in wood or metal structure ..otside the Box come with regulatory approvals just for one single material or technology is require 20k-50k approvals and homologations , i decide to go in this direction becouse of the cost of the framing and labor cost .. and time .
I dont not refuse or reject any other tech or material but when you are going on commercial scale you need a lot of approvals . Right now in the world are +/- 7 serious company's that had develop such tech .. from 500k/Eur to 1,2mil Eur.. problem i found are :
- Price / in my understanding this tech must be affordable to any contractor or developer /
- Materials ( you must buy from the manufacture )
- installations time > 2 days
- training cost /time
- Know how and knowledge for running CNC / 4 axis robotics require many years of experience

The one we decide to develop it has to be up and running in 2h from the moment you are on site and has to use including a mix of clay ,sand and straws ( we have a request for Africa (social houses ).
We will be ready at the end of this year .. I am looking for previous experience's and CNC/ GCODE for large scale implementations .(multiple starting points /puzzle )

Nozzles is complicated subject this days before few weeks was a conference about 3D Printing Concrete for 4 days .Nozzle was in a debate for more than 6 -12 functions and become the most expensive part at the end !

I am have no intention on just one robot to build , our decision is to manufacture a series of machines-robots will enable us to eliminate the loss in translation from data to matter and allow us to fabricate homes at great speed, with in the next year . .We assume the at the end of the next year we will start selling or not (no sure) the tech . At this point we are on the way to make it as simple and possible to be used by any developer or construction Co.. ..

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/02/2020 07:12AM by aurel ispas.

... I'm actually too busy with nozzle-development ... but more in the "micro"-area -- DIY-laserdrilling/3D-shaping bores with diamters down to 20 microns

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

This the technology today !

BetAbram P1 Available Gantry system 16 x 8.2 x 2.5 Slovenia
COBOD BOD2 Available Gantry system 14.62 x 50.52 x 8.14 Denmark
Constructions-3D 3D Constructor Available Robotic arm 13 x 13 x 3.8 France
CyBe Construction CyBe RC 3Dp Available Robotic arm 2.75 x 2.75 x 2.75 Netherlands
ICON Vulcan II Available Gantry system 2.6 x 8.5 x ∞ United States
MudBots 3D Concrete Printer Available Gantry system 1.83 x 1.83 x 1.22 United States
Total Kustom StroyBot 6.2 Available Gantry system 10 x 15 x 6 United States
WASP Crane WASP Available Delta system Ø 6.3 x 3 Italy
Apis Cor Project Robotic arm 8.5 x 1.6 x 1.5 Russia
Batiprint3D 3D printer Project Robotic arm Up to 7m high France
S-Squared ARCS VVS NEPTUNE Project Gantry system 9.1 x 4.4 x ∞ United States
Contour Crafting Service Gantry system - United States
XtreeE Service Robotic arm - France

Extruder Head

... here's a video, showing concrete printing - [www.youtube.com]

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

Bamboo or hemp fibers if you can get em.

... there were some developments/experiments with "converting" plant fibers into ceramic structures, what had pretty interesting results too!

So enough potential or superior properties ... but not accepted yet

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]