Printing a Building

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Posted by Soulskill on Friday September 16, 2011 @05:07AM from the you're-gonna-need-a-bigger-boat dept.

RedEaredSlider writes "Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are trying to push 3-D printing technology even further. Their goals: create whole working machines and perhaps even buildings. Thus far, 3D printing has been used to make shapes of plastic or metal that can be assembled later. These folks want to change that. One idea is to use concrete in a novel way: 'Not only would it be possible to create fanciful, organic-looking shapes that would be difficult or impossible using molds, but the technique could also allow the properties of the concrete itself to vary continuously, producing structures that are both lighter and stronger than conventional concrete. To illustrate this, Keating uses the example of a palm tree compared to a typical structural column. In a concrete column, the properties of the material are constant, resulting in a very heavy structure. But a palm tree’s trunk varies: denser at the outside and lighter toward the center. As part of his thesis research, he has already made sections of concrete with the same kind of variations of density.'"

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and Dr. Suess, too! by Thud457 · 2011-09-16 05:14 · Score: 3, Insightful

The shades of Antoni Gaudi and Nader Khalili approve of this research.

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the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Pretty neat... by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · 2011-09-16 05:15 · Score: 4, Interesting

I suspect that, if made practical on a larger scale, this 3D printing will make variable-property concrete substantially more common, cheap, and swift to put up; but it deserves mention that the Roman architects who constructed the dome of the Pantheon actually used a similar strategy of progressively lighter aggregate mixes as they went further up the dome, resulting in a substantially lighter and more durable structure... A very cute trick that would be handy to see revived.
1. Re:Pretty neat... by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-16 05:32 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  That "cute trick" needs no revival, it's been used in just about every large scale construction project since well, the Pantheon. This is something wholly different though, since it would allow you to actually vary the density of the concrete within a single application, rather than just stacking progressively lighter applications.
Would you download a car? by alex_guy_CA · 2011-09-16 05:21 · Score: 4, Funny

Yes. Yes I would.

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San Francisco Photographers
1. Re:Would you download a car? by Dunbal · 2011-09-16 05:28 · Score: 2
  
  But the cartridge with the materials will cost you $150,000. I guess that's the whole point, actually.
  
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  Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
2. Re:Would you download a car? by Baloroth · 2011-09-16 05:32 · Score: 2
  
  If the RIAA had its way, the design would be another $100,000 on top of that. Just to, you know, "pay back the artist..ha ha."
  
  --
  "None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton
3. Re:Would you download a car? by Dabido · 2011-09-16 15:47 · Score: 2
  
  So ... download it from work! :-)
  
  --
  Sure enough, the cow costume was hanging up next to the superhero outfit and sailors uniform. (S,Spud)
lack of real-world experience by SethJohnson · 2011-09-16 05:23 · Score: 3, Informative

If this grad school student were to spend a summer working with concrete, he would learn that it's not a medium suited for 3-D printing.

Civil engineers would reject any concrete structure design proposed with 3-D printing. They despise cold joints, and if a vertical support consisted of dozens of cold joints, that's a no-go from the beginning. That's just one dimension of this flawed concept. Comparing a flexible material like a palm tree to an absolutely rigid material like concrete is pure folly. Concrete structures don't bend under load. They crack and break.

Seth

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$5 / month hosted VPS on linux = awesome!
1. Re:lack of real-world experience by nschubach · 2011-09-16 05:36 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  I'm not sure you'd do the entire building in one print.
  Maybe you print out the foundation "skin", drop some re-bar in specific locations (that are also printed in place) then have a truck come in later to pour the filling concrete. You avoid having to setup/tear down/transport forms. You can make the foundation any size or shape (again, without special forms) and even color without having to dye the entire batch of concrete. (From what I hear, concrete guys love dyed concrete.../sarcasm)
  
  --
  Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
2. Re:lack of real-world experience by iggymanz · 2011-09-16 05:49 · Score: 2
  
  reinforced concrete shears wonderfully. nothing to say you can't 3rd print with internal equivalent of rebar caging system, which perhaps also is automatically assembled or perhaps also 3rd formed
3. Re:lack of real-world experience by iggymanz · 2011-09-16 05:55 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  actually, there are flexible composite concretes, some that even self-heal if stressed to cracking. And of course maybe 3D printing around support system could allow reinforced concrete printing. We're talking about research for future tech, what an old civil engineer would complain about might have no relevance at all if new materials and methods used. Advancement of civilization is all about new materials and new methods of using them.
4. Re:lack of real-world experience by Plazmid · 2011-09-16 14:32 · Score: 2
  
  That's pretty much the process that's been proposed by the USC contour crafting group proposed for doing rebar. Print a shell layer, drop in some modular rebar sections,then you fill up the shell with concrete so that your rebar connectors sticks out, and then repeat for the next layer. Another way to do reinforcement is to put a metal coil on your top layer and to print over it, so the coil gets embedded in the concrete. They've actually demonstrated this.
  So why stop at just printing in colors? The contour crafting group has proposed putting in tiling, plumbing, electrical wiring, heaters, and strain gauges.
  See this paper for more:
  http://craft.usc.edu/CC/Welcome_files/resources/AIC2004-Paper.pdf
5. Re:lack of real-world experience by drinkypoo · 2011-09-17 00:49 · Score: 2
  
  bending-welding-cutting robot. And another robot to come in from under its armpit and weld rebar to rebar. The welding I refer to above is the same as done to train tracks; polish the end of the rebar, butt it up to the next (also polished) piece, and run a bunch of current through them to weld them together.
  If you pumped the various constituents of concrete to the head and mixed them there, then sprayed the 'crete over a freshly welded rebar form then you could both reduce waste and eliminate cold joints between varieties of concrete...
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Re:Booring. by sakdoctor · 2011-09-16 05:28 · Score: 2

Closest you're going to get today: http://reprap.org/wiki/Main_Page
Prof. Neri Oxman by Sebastopol · 2011-09-16 06:04 · Score: 4, Funny

I was thoroughly engaged with my "science and engineering mode" brain active while reading all of this information, that is until Prof. Neri Oxman appeared in the second video and my brain exploded. A quick google images search later and OMFG she's an effing supermodel.
I'm highly disappointed in my scumbag brain for such a base detour from a truly intellectual endeavor.

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What 's wrong with the old method.. by formfeed · 2011-09-16 08:28 · Score: 2

..of enslaving the local population and having them cut granite to build monuments in your name?