4/30/2020 Concrete 3D Printing: How it Works & Applications | All3DP

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Concrete Evidence

Concrete 3D Printing: How it Works & Applications

by Leo Gregurić
Aug 23, 2018

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How Concrete 3D Printing Can Make Housing More Affordable Applications of Concrete 3D Printing
How Does Concrete 3D Printing Work?
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Concrete 3D printing is the shiny new tool in the toolbox of architects and
construction companies. It offers a quick and cost-e cient way of building homes.
Here's an introduction explaining how concrete 3D printing works, different
concrete 3D printing applications, and what the bene ts and limitations are.

How Concrete 3D Printing Can Make

Housing More Affordable

Layers of 3D printed concrete Source: Softpedia News

As you may know, the materials used with 3D printing technology are not just limited to plastic and metal materials. Recent
developments in the eld of concrete 3D printing proves that there’s an untapped potential in quickly building affordable homes
or even entire communities.

There are many bene ts of concrete 3D printing. It can be used to produce homes for people that lost their homes in
an unfortunate natural disaster, create cheap homes for the homeless, and handle geometries that would be di cult for
traditional construction techniques to handle. The list of possibilities goes on and on…

While concrete 3D printing will not fully replace traditional building techniques by tomorrow, the advantages of the technology are
undeniable. Designing and building a home can be an expensive and time-consuming task, and that is why concrete 3D printing
is an appealing tool for constructors and architects. 

First and foremost, a concrete 3D printer must be quite substantial in size. This is a major challenge that has somewhat hindered
the mainstream adoption of concrete 3D printing. However, concrete 3D printers are usually portable, enabling construction in
many locations using just one machine. 

At the moment, concrete 3D printing might not be optimal for building large luxury villas, mansions or hotels, but it’s better suited
for 3D printing mid-sized homes and other structures at a low price and in a quick manner.

Aside from the low cost and high build speed, another bene t of concrete 3D printing is that nearly no material is wasted during
the production process, making it more environmentally friendly than traditional techniques.

Since the architectural design can be 3D printed on the spot, there’s no need for construction companies to make molds
to actualize their structures, saving time, money and energy. The modern building design has made features like exposed
concrete walls and geometrically complex roofs more popular, both of which presents the perfect opportunity for concrete 3D
printing to show what it is truly capable of. 

As more and more successful projects are completed with concrete 3D printers, the legal obstacles that may hinder the
technology will ease up as time progresses. Many cities and local municipalities have yet to realize the potential of concrete 3D

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printing, which means that there could be potential rules/law regarding home construction. But, as time goes, more and more
cities will adopt new rules and standards that will support the use of concrete 3D printing technology.

There’s more to a house than four walls and a roof. There are other factors that are important to an inhabitant, such as thermal
insulation. To deal with this, companies that specialize in concrete 3D printing are developing mixes of concrete which have a
high thermal mass resulting in energy e ciency. Additionally, foam and other insulation materials can be integrated into the
concrete walls if needed.

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How Does Concrete 3D Printing Work?

A rendering of ICON's Vulcan concrete 3D printer Source: fortune.com

To get an idea of how concrete 3D printing works, imagine a gigantic FDM 3D printer that uses concrete instead of plastic
lament.

Concrete 3D printers, just like FDM printers, are controlled via g-code, a machine language that works by directing the print head
of the 3D printer until the desired 3D model is produced.

Concrete 3D printers and “normal” FDM 3D printers are both similar in some ways and very different in others. In fact, the
similarity between plastic FDM printers and concrete printers can be summed up in basically two words: material extrusion. Just
like “normal” FDM 3D printers, concrete 3D printers also operate using X, Y and Z axis.

The x-axis of a concrete 3D printer is de ned by the length of the rails which are used for moving the printer back and forth. The
Y-axis of the concrete 3D printer is de ned by the distance between rails on opposite sides and the Z-axis is de ned by the height

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of the pillars which carry the nozzle.

Concrete 3D printers haven’t eliminated the need for construction workers, but it has made their job easier and safer.
Professional constructors and builders will still be operating on the eld, but alongside the concrete 3D printer.

Obviously, the foundation is needed before houses/buildings can be built above the surface. One of the rst steps in preparing
the construction site for a concrete 3D printer to arrive is to atten it so that rails for the printer can be installed. Apart
from creating a surface at, foundations are needed before the process of printing concrete can start. 

As we mentioned above, one of the rst steps workers need to do in order to start printing concrete is to deposit specially
designed rails for the printer. The next step is to put the printer on the rails, set up the pillars and check all three axes. The nozzle
and a robotic arm are located on a horizontal metal beam that’s put across the pillars of the concrete 3D printer.

When the 3D design of the house is ready, concrete comes to the construction eld – usually in a normal concrete truck – and is
connected to the printer’s nozzle via a big hose.

At this point, you might be asking yourself how electrical installations and reinforcement of the walls are implemented during the
concrete 3D printing process. It can all be done during printing thanks to recent developments of the companies which specialize
in concrete 3D printing, such as CC Corporation.

Special methods of wall reinforcements are developed by rms that specialize in 3D printing to make bare concrete walls even
stronger. Window frames and ceilings are pre-manufactured and installed by a robotic hand that “sits” alongside the nozzle. The
concrete that gets printed has to be carefully prepared in order to successfully print buildings.

The goal would be to achieve a concrete mix which is able to provide maximal buildability upon pouring of the concrete and to
maximize the owability of the concrete mix to ensure the nozzle doesn’t get clogged. To say it simply, the goal is to have layers
which harden quickly but remain liquid enough to successfully bond with new layers.

To achieve such great performance, the concrete mix must contain perfect amounts of chemicals, such as superplasticizers.
Superplasticizers are used to reduce water in a concrete mix. If you want to know more about superplasticizers, learn more here.

Apart from various additives which are put into the concrete mix, manufacturers also improve the strength of the concrete by
adding bers into the mix itself.

Please note that our explanation of how concrete 3D printing works is written in a more general format when compared to
detailed descriptions of various concrete printing technologies.

When talking construction 3D printing, people often use abbreviations such as 3DCP (3D construction printing) and LSAM (large
scale additive manufacturing). One of the most promising methods of concrete 3D printing is called Contour Crafting (CC).

The applications of CC are seen in the construction of multi-story buildings, but also construction is space! 

All concrete 3D printing technologies are based around the same concept which is similar to “normal” FDM printers, but various
concrete 3D printing technologies differ in terms of how reinforcements are installed and many other details such as wall
thickness and the geometry of the concrete inside the wall’s “shell”.

All in all, the main idea behind concrete 3D printing is that an architect or designer can convert their 3D blueprints into g-code and
send it to the printer. This concrete 3D printer can then immediately turn their idea into reality, signi cantly reducing the build
time and costs in comparison to traditional building techniques.

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Applications of Concrete 3D Printing

A backyard castle by Andrey Rudenko, 5 3D printed houses in Eindhoven, ICON's $10.000 3D printed home and a 3D printed
bridge. Source: totalkustom.com, iconbuild.com, the guardian.com, deepen.com

In this section, we’ll lay down some of the recent and popular applications of concrete 3D printing to give you an idea where the
technology is currently used.

Earlier this year, the Texas-based company ICON announced that it had managed to 3D print a 350-square-foot house at an
affordable price of $10,000. ICON is working closely with a non-pro t organization New Story with a goal of printing homes in El
Salvador at $4,000 per home, each being around 600-800 square feet. As they claim, they are working “full throttle” to reduce the
price of 3D printed homes, aiming to make housing more affordable all around the world. 

Perhaps you’ve also heard about a man named Andrey Rudenko who 3D printed a castle in his own backyard. Andrey said he
always believed that something like that could be done and he was right, he proved his statements with the castle he printed in
his backyard. 

One country that is especially fond of using 3D printing to build homes and bridges is the Netherlands. In 2019, the Dutch city 
Eindhoven will receive  ve new houses that will be constructed using special concrete 3D printers. The homes will be inhabited
by families, and the biggest of the ve houses will include three bedrooms alongside three oors. 

The Netherlands is also home to the world’s rst concrete 3D printed bridge for cyclists and pedestrians. This structure was
made by the same rm that is providing the equipment that will be used to build the 3D printed houses in Eindhoven. The bridge
is made up of several 3D printed pieces of concrete. 

These are just a few examples that showcase how concrete 3D printing is being used. If you’re looking for more examples where
concrete 3D printing is used, take a look at our list of the 35 Greatest 3D Printed Houses & Structures. 

Another great example of how concrete 3D printing is used is provided by the rm called XtreeE, one of the pioneers in the
concrete 3D printing sector.

They are 3D printing benches with woven patterns for backyards and parks, but also they do larger-scale projects like
house construction. The company also 3D prints concrete facade panels as decor for modern buildings. If you’re interested in
XtreeE’s projects, learn more here.

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Jeremy Smith • 10 months ago

Hi, in your article you mentioned that "Obviously, the foundation is
needed before houses/buildings can be built above the surface." May i
know if the foundation is 3D printed, and if not how is it constructed?
What types of foundations are used?
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