3D Printed Buildings get an upgrade

By Tech Correspondent Benjamin Maclaren

Updated 15 August at 2016

Researchers at the “National School of Architecture Paris Malaquais” have been testing a different system to 3D Print objects using high-performance concrete that will make better buildings cheaper and faster.

A new 3D Printing system developed by a team of researchers at the National School of Architecture of Paris Malquais uses ultra-high performance concrete to create complex shapes and objects, the parts printed in this research are among the largest 3D Printed concrete parts ever produced.

Using computer-generated models the system takes a model and breaks it down into individual layers then rebuilds them as a physical object made from concrete pushed out off a computer-controlled tube-like how a cake is decorated with icing.

“the examples presented in this paper are among the largest 3D printed concrete parts ever produced.”

Better, Faster, Stronger…Cheaper?

3D Printed structures offer significant advantages over the traditional current method “Casting” this being the systems used are autonomous and don’t require people to lay-down concrete \ also allowing them to run continuously without stopping saving time and money.

Most systems are controlled by a computer, this means that each movement it makes is accurate no matter how many times it is made.

“the most attractive feature of 3D printing of concrete is the ability to produce complex 3D shapes in comparison to casting processes.“

By varying the shape of a wall being printed the way sound and heat travels through the wall can be changed, allowing for soundproofed or better-insulated buildings without using extra materials.

Acoustic Wall Structure

Heat through walls with different shapes

The team plans on continuing their research in the hope to expand the system to include different shapes and materials as well as improve the speed and efficiency of printing.

“We believe we are at the beginning of a new understanding of geometrical design, enabled by such building processes, just as the iron and steel industry brought tremendous changes in construction during the second half of the XIXth century.”

Topic Choice at the time notes:

My main area of interest is 3D Printing so I decided to centre my article around a research paper on 3D Printing Technology

I used the keywords “3D Printing” and “Additive Manufacturing” to search for papers in google scholar and the web of science,

There were a number of journals that piqued my interest, after sifting through them I chose (“Large-scale 3D printing of ultra-high performance concrete — a new processing route for architects and builders” 2016. C. Gosselin a,b , R. Duballet a,b ) as after a read of the abstract a news story using the article would be able to use a number of news values such as currency and impact.