ROBOTIC Concrete 3D Printing
ABOUT THE PROJECT
The project Robotic Concrete 3D Printing challenges the conventional design standards of concrete construction by exploring the potential and flexibility of Direct Concrete 3D Printing. Combining computational design logics, structural performance optimization and material experiments, the project aims to push forward the boundaries of what can be built in concrete and to reduce costs and time of production for a more sustainable construction technique.
As the design, manufacturing and handling of the formworks heavily impact on the construction time and can account for more than 80% of the overall cost in a complex concrete structure, the elimination of such temporary elements in the construction process would offer a clear economical and technological advantage. Moreover, as it removes the need for standardization Concrete 3D Printing offers the possibility to rethink the way we design in concrete, enabling full customization and integration of locally-adaptive design features defined by performative analysis and spatial choices.
The project challenges construction standards at two intertwined scales: a series of patterns are tested on a standard column design as a mean of improving the structural performance of concrete elements, and then applied to a non-standard highly-complex large-scale design that proves the design freedom and customization possibility of the technology.
The design process involves a set of structural and performance analysis iteratively informed by the preliminary experiments and integrates Augmented Reality (AR) technology as a mean of going beyond conventional 3D modelling and enhancing the user-experience and user-awareness in the process of design. The fabrication process entails the use of a 6-axis Industrial Robot and a fine-grained fiber-reinforced concrete mix which is deposited in a layered fashion following a digitally-defined toolpath with millimetric control.
PROJECT CREDITS
CREATE Group - Led by Asst. Prof. Dr. Roberto Naboni
In collaboration with Industrial Partner: Hyperion Robotics
University of Southern Denmark (SDU), Section for Civil and Architectural Engineering (CAE)
Team: Roberto Naboni, Luca Breseghello, Anja Kunic, Sandro Sanin
Students: Ilyas Abdirashid Ahmed, Kawtar Al Akel, Peter Christian Kjær Balle, Fabian Eidner, Styrmir Gislason, Robert Tøste Lomholdt Jespersen, Camilla Juul Johansen, Anders Klitgaard Klausen, Dominika Aleksandra Krolikowska, Mads Friborg Nielsen, Mads Køhler Persson, Søren Rasmussen, Kasper Lund Rasmussen, Lasse Weyergang Rahbek, Helena Schenavsky, Martyna Skóra, Troels Sperling, Valdemar Brandt Thygesen, Mads Sørensen, Simon Andreasen Andreasen, Philip James Douglas
Concrete material: Weber Saint-Gobain Denmark
Concrete Admixtures: Fosroc Denmark
Polypropylene Fibers: Danish Fibers