Lowering costs, reducing loss margins and increasing the speed of construction of a large infrastructure could be possible thanks to 3D printing.
An industrial robot weighing approximately 2,700 kilograms was recently presented as a proposal to transform the construction industry.
The future of 3D printing in large-scale construction tasks
In recent years, the offer of 3D printers aimed at a domestic or hobby audience has increased. However, the potential of this technology is not only limited to that scale of use.
The additive manufacturing process, the name by which the 3D printing technique is formally called, has driven advances in biomedicine and in the creation of product prototypes based on various raw materials.
On a large scale, the means that generate the confidence and affordability necessary for their widespread implementation do not yet exist. However, a proposal from the Bovay Lab, the Bovay Civil Infrastructure Laboratory Complex, demonstrated through a prototype that it is possible to apply 3D printing on a large scale.
East growthemerged from the hand of researchers from Cornell University, United States, is being used as a first practical approach to this technology, to explore its potential in the area.
“Robotic masonry (brick laying), printing with recycled plastics and large-scale metal printing are exciting areas with a lot of room for growth, both in terms of science and understanding, and technology and engineering”said Derek Warner, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Cornell. “The scale of many of the phenomena that control construction processes is such that they need to be studied at a scale close to that at which they will be used. The same applies to some of the phenomena that control performance. Plus, there are always the unknown surprises that happen when you scale up from scratch with new technology.”.
This project has the aspiration of reaping advances over time, as its creators ensure that the robotic system developed is versatile and flexible.
So far, through meticulous manipulation, the researchers behind this initiative have obtained successful results. Through the methodology explored, 3D printing does not require casting molds and also allows the creation of unconventional shapes, reducing material waste margins.
“Every time you pour molten concrete, like for a sidewalk, you have to set up all the forms. You need labor, and materials, you have to bet everything. All of this takes a long time.”said James Strait, manager of technological services at the Bovay Laboratory, where this robot operates. “Every change you make to a concrete structure, you have to modify the mold or get a new mold and spend labor doing that. That’s a lot harder than going into a computer program and saying, ‘Do you want this to be rounded?’ Click. A couple of hours and voila»commented.
