Derivation of Integration Approaches for "Concrete 3D Printing" in the Construction Process Based on Features of Additive Manufacturing (2020-12)¶

At the end of 2019, the Russian company Apis Cor completed a 640m2 office building in Dubai using additive manufacturing in preparation for Expo 2020. In Belgium, the construction company KampC used a completely different system to additively manufacture a two-storey building with a floor area of 90m² within three weeks in July 2020. The technology has also reached a new stage of development in Germany. In cooperation with the Danish company COBOD International A/S, the formwork manufacturer PERI is responsible for what it claims is Germany's first "3D-printed house" in Beckum (NRW). Additive manufacturing, also known colloquially as "3D printing", is moving into the spotlight, and not just among experts, thanks to media coverage. Despite these pilot projects, the technology is still in its infancy. Many issues are still unresolved, so there is also great interest from a scientific point of view. The German Research Foundation has been funding the development of additive manufacturing in construction in a joint research project of the TU Braunschweig and the TU Munich as a collaborative research centre entitled "Additive Manufacturing in Construction - The Challenge of Large Scale" since the beginning of 2020. This article presents initial thoughts on the effects of additive manufacturing processes on the construction process (e.g. in terms of planning, execution or logistics). The following explanations are limited exclusively to cement-based processes. For an overall understanding of the article, relevant key terms are first defined and variants of additive manufacturing are presented. Due to the international scientific interest in additive manufacturing in the construction industry and the existing terminology, an attempt will be made to name the English equivalent or suggest meaningful translations. This is followed by an examination of the characteristics of additive manufacturing and the differentiation from conventional manufacturing processes. In essence, three concepts for the integration of additive manufacturing processes into the construction process will be presented, their essential characteristics discussed and possible questions regarding construction site organization identified. The article concludes with a summary and an outlook on the way forward.