In 1984 the
first working 3D printer (or additive manufacturing as it was called) was created by Chuck
Hull of 3D Systems Corp. It has since been redeveloped many times for many
different purposes.
3D printing is basically a process, where a three-dimensional virtual
shape is made into a solid object. By using an additive process, where many
layers of material are laid down in different shapes, the object is created.
At the moment, 3D printers can only print in one material, and most of
the commercial 3D printers use cheap plastic. But 3D printing has a lot of
potential. It is a fast improving field. Earlier this year, the first
professionally certified 3D food printer was launched, and a working 3D
concrete printer is fast approaching.
By a long shot, one can say that 3D printing actually started in architecture, when the Egyptians stacked stone blocks on top of each other, layer by layer, and that way created the pyramids. Then some thousand years later, machines were created to help people build, which standardized the buildings. Now everything affordable is defined by these industrial standards. By 3D printing buildings, everything could go back to being customized, as it is only a 3D CAD model that would need changes.
Let’s just say it is possible to 3D print a house. Much less material
would be used, as the 3D printer could make hollow walls. These walls would not
only be lighter, but could also house all installations and cables, which the
3D printer would make at the same time as the walls (of course the 3D printer
works with multiple materials). There would be geometrical freedom and
structural optimization. The functions would be integrated and there wouldn’t
be any complexity in assembly.
The first few 3D concrete printers have already been created, where the
biggest can cover an area of 30 square meters (323 square feet).
If a 3D concrete printer were used instead of pouring concrete into a
formwork, it would be a much quicker, cheaper and safer way to build, not to
mention the architectural possibilities to create organic shapes.
NASA is currently sponsoring
a project (lead by professor Khoshnevis (as Brian also has written about) called Contour Crafting), where researchers claim to be able to build the shell of a 2,000
square feet house in less than 20 hours, and that it is just two years away
from commercial use.
Sources:
Chalcraft, Emilie, "In the future we might print not only
buildings,
but entire urban sections", Dezeen magazine, 21 May
2013: http://www.dezeen.com/2013/05/21/3d-printing-architecture-print-shift/
Fairs, Marcus, “3D-printed buildings to become reality
"in the
not-too-distant future"” Dezeen magazine, 25 September 2013: http://www.dezeen.com/2013/09/25/3d-printed-buildings-to-become-reality-in-the-not-too-distant-future/
N/A, ”3D printed concrete
houses ”two years from market””, 11 october 2013: http://www.construction-manager.co.uk/news/3d-printed-concrete-houses-two-years-market/
N/A, ”Freeform construction:
Concrete printing”, 2 June 2010: http://blog.ponoko.com/2010/06/02/freeform-construction-concrete-printing/
Royte, Elizabeth, “What lies ahead for 3- D
printing?”, Smithsonian magazine, May 2013: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-lies-ahead-for-3-d-printing-37498558/#ixzz2qIpbwIPq
Walton, Jon, ”3D Printing –
The Future of Concrete”, 15 march 2012: http://www.constructiondigital.com/green_building/3d-printing---the-future-of-concrete
This is a very interesting article. I think it would be pretty cool to see 3-D printers to be as common in the future as everyday printers are today.
ReplyDeleteInteresting take on the evolution of construction and the future that 3D printing has on this evolution. You are correct in saying that the old temples and landmarks of early civilization were very custom and as we evolved we looked more and more into standardization. Now look at today everyone and every company is trying to provided a customized experience putting personality back into the person. 3D printing will be the new standard but while being standard it will be totally customizable! Looking forward to what 3D printing has in store!
ReplyDeleteSigne,
ReplyDelete3-D printing has enormous potential in manufacturing. If technology were to advance to the point where 3-D printers could utilize many different materials, things such as cars and homes may be able to be created without any assembly. However, this could negatively impact society and completely demolish jobs that deal with manual manufacturing and construction. Also, if these printers evolve to the point where individuals own these in their home, it could lead to dangerous situations. There are articles written about the capabilities of producing weapons such as guns, through the use of 3-D printing. And also through the use of pirating software, individuals may be able to steal items such as car designs and print them off. These scenarios are obviously theoretical and do not propose any cause of alarm, but they may propose issues in the future.
3D printing can print more then materials at the moment. There has been numerous advances it the field and there have been prints of things such as candy to human body parts. Both of which I have seen in the last six months. The blog post was very well written and very through, just some discrepancies with what you stated can be printed.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how the 3-D printers has been developing throughout he years. Although 3-D printer could only print in one material, as mentioned,it's still interesting. Maybe in the future, if the 3-D printer could print in different materials, it would help engineer in the constructions field which I cannot imagine how much time and cost would be saved.
ReplyDelete