Additive Manufacturing in Construction (2019-11)¶

3D printing (additive manufacturing) is a digitally controlled manufacturing technology that has the potential to be developed specifically for the construction industry and become a key technology for the digitalization of the construction industry. In additive manufacturing, components are built up solely through digitally controlled, layer-by-layer material application, without mold construction or forming processes. This represents a paradigm shift from the still predominantly manual, shaping construction processes. In order to fully exploit the potential of this technology, structural design, material behavior and manufacturing process must be coordinated with each other in an integrative manner. This enables buildings with a high degree of design freedom and a resource-efficient use of materials. The Institute of Structural Design (ITE) and the Institute of Building Materials, Concrete Structures and Fire Protection (iBMB) at TU Braunschweig have been researching processes for the 3D printing of large-format concrete components for several years. The so-called shotcrete 3D printing process (SC3DP) was developed in an interdisciplinary joint project. SC3DP technology is an automated, robotic, additive manufacturing process that builds up concrete components layer by layer with the controlled addition of compressed air. This report presents the first 3D-printed and reinforced concrete components that demonstrate the potential of SC3DP technology.