3D-Printing Technology for on-site Construction

Concrete is the world's most widely used construction material; currently more than half of it is ready-mix concrete; for instance, 46 Mi. m3 in Germany. For placing most types of concrete, especially those of ready-mix concrete, formworks are needed. The use of formworks often leads to high material, labor and machinery costs in addition to considerable time delays and negative environmental impact. Other impor- tant challenges faced by construction industry are low productivity and scarcity of man-power, limited geometrical freedom, slow speed of construction, construction in hazardous or remote areas, cost reduction and sustainability. To overcome these challenges, a novel approach for 3D-Concrete-Printing technology for on-site construction is being developed at the TU Dresden. Some advantages of CONPrint3D® tech- nology are no need of formwork (thus up to 45% cost reduction), high geometrical flexibility, usage of commonly used construction machin- ery and low dependency on skilled labor. This article provides a short introduction to 3D-printing of construction elements and also gives brief overview of CONPrint3D.

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