Industrialising Concrete 3D Printing (2020-04)¶

Experimentation with 3D-printed concrete in architecture has flourished over the past decade and, consequently, so too has the development of industrial-grade manufacturing processes. 3D printing is part of a wave of robotic construction technologies developed with the ‘digital turn’ in architecture (Carpo, 2012) and, with it, the exploration of the possibilities offered by digital fabrication tools (Gramazio et al., 2015). Robotic technologies for construction sites have been designed since since the mid-20^th century, but essentially consisted in the beginning of specialised machines accomplishing a single, repetitive task. Recent research has focused on more versatile machines, such as six-axis robotic arms, to perform a great diversity of tasks. This new approach to robotic construction processes, as well as the ‘digital and informational turn’ accompanying it, makes way for a potentially drastic renewal of the construction industry and its methods. The introduction of these new robotic manufacturing technologies into the construction industry is still in the early stages, with numerous challenges needing to be overcome to reach full integration. These challenges must be studied in light of the potentialities of concrete 3D printing and other robotic fabrication processes, to ensure implementation in the construction industry in the most relevant way. This paper gives a brief analysis of the current advancement of concrete 3D-printing technologies and the challenges facing researchers and companies, alongside three case studies of applications of concrete 3D printing developed by XtreeE. These applications have been developed in partnership with various significant players in the French construction industry, and have led to the manufacturing of several products as part of completed construction projects. Given the practical dimension of these case studies, they provide complementary information to academic research that can be used for further reflection on the industrialisation of such technologies.