3d Technology Applied To Civil Engineering

3D technology applied to civil engineering

There is a revolution on the planet that is being developed little by little, which are undoubtedly the printers in 3 dimensions, novel high -tech products capable of making incredible ways in a very short time and saving resources to the fullest; observing as engineering works that demanded days or weeks to be completed, they are now ended alone in hours.

Innovation in 3D printing has also reached the world of construction, being here where it presents a great growth perspective in a medium term; Thus, the new architectural trends embodied in a short period of time are observed in amazement, for these machines that vary in their shapes and sizes.

3D printing in the construction area is a technologies that promises to revolutionize the sector in the future. 3D printing allows use in almost any field and scope, from architecture, engineering, construction, aerospace sector, education and even health for human organ replacement. Many experts consider this technology as the beginning of the so -called Fourth Industrial Revolution for the wide range of possibilities that allow its use.

The question that arises is as follows: Will 3D replace the houses made by man? Will this technique use the households of the future? How much of innovation and how will our lives affect? 

What are the main advantages of 3D printing in construction?

The good thing about this process is that 3D printers are cheaper and more simple than using other type manufacturing technologies.

They allow great possibilities to builders and architects since houses and buildings can be printed by parts. In addition, the use of assemblies through different materials globalizes the construction process thanks to a simple assembly process.

The main positive point is that it does not need molds, and therefore the waste is avoided. In short, the surplus is lower, costs are reduced and hardly produces garbage. The 3 -dimensional printing technology is made by layer, an idea that comes from paper print they amount to little as the object is carried out.

For common use, materials that range from resins to plastics are used. However, in 3D printing in construction you can use steel and concrete and even synthetic plastics. Smart bricks used in houses through this technology are shown and are made of high strength concrete. The bricks are gradually installed on a ground plate that is the base of the house, to make the walls use guides that serve as rails where a robot places the bricks little by little. To finish the walls, they make some finishing layers that cover different elements and infrastructure such as pipes and cables.

Another advantage of this type of smart bricks is that they reduce energy costs up to 60% thanks to their thermal properties. In addition, construction by 3D printing to the environment. This is possible since 3D printers produce materials for houses and buildings with zero carbon emissions materials. If it is combined with renewable energies such as solar energy, the future house will be a totally ecological building. In addition, all materials are reusable and renewable.

As if that were not enough, the price of 3D printing reduces the final price of the house. The average cost of a single -printed house in 3D is about 5.000 dollars. In the future, it may be even cheaper. The biggest problem is legislation, in China, one of the countries with the greatest use of this technology does not allow houses of several 3D plants, although this may change shortly.

What is the largest 3D printed structure and where is it?

The largest structure in the printed world through 3D technology is in Beijing, China. It is a work of art of 1.504 m³ of 3D printed material and carried out by the Rise Immersion Subject English (China) company on August 20, 2016. The 3D printed structure has 5.370 3D printed bricks that were combined by a comprehensive connection system.

However, this work of art of Beijing seems to go down in history since there is a company in China called Winsum that has managed to make 3D printers to build houses in one day. Windsun has cemented a five -height apartment block and about 1.100 square meters with a mega printer. 3D printers use molten deposition modeling technology to house all materials in a process similar to that of tightening the paste from a pastry bag.

The use of 3D printers under construction such as emerging engineering technologies will be discussed from a historical context, to subsequently indicate their current potential and their contribution in innovation. 3D printing, in civil engineering directed towards a new era of technological innovations in the world.

With the application of the three -dimensional printer in the construction market it is possible to redefine the forms of execution of the works that are known today, that is, a look at the past is given and the need for change and the reduction of the Management and exhaustion time of economic and environmental resources; 3D impression becomes a friendly strategy with the environment as many of its materials to perform their work, they are or can be constituted by garbage generating a positive impact on the environment due to the use of garbage recycling as the main raw material.

Civil Engineering focuses on the projection, design, management and execution of constructions, for this, professionals must have solid knowledge in disciplines such as physical and mathematics to develop and analyze electrical networks, more appropriate hydraulic and sanitation equipment for each project, guaranteeing all safety in constructions, considering aspects such as soil analysis, stability, temperature and wind influence. Area professionals must also take into account specific materials and infrastructure for each occasion, therefore, the works are increasing.

Scenario of the use of 3D printers in civil engineering, advances and limitations

While other areas of knowledge are very committed to 3D printing to overcome obstacles, the construction market is still taking its first steps in this new concept. But before moving on to 3D printing in the field of civil engineering, it is important to define what it is and what is used to not give margin to erroneous interpretations. When talking about 3D printing, reference can be made to the concept of three -dimensional print. This process resembles that of printing in two dimensions in which the ink is put on the paper, however, in the third -dimension printing a plastic material is located on top of a certain surface that facilitates the manufacture of objects or things three -dimensional.

In recent years, third -dimension impressions have increased exponentially, that is, their growth has been rapid. These printing machines are easy to acquire and are present in companies, in the industrial, manufacturing, education and research and development institutes and can also be obtained for personal use.

The main purpose of creating three -dimensional printing was precisely to speed up the process of execution and assembly of pieces and products, after devastating events such as the fall of buildings, the instability of the land, and other aspects in terms of. The implementation of this technology is sought as a quality proposal to revolutionize the construction sector by delivering great benefits that translate into decrease in manufacturing times, reduction in manufacturing costs, less material waste, prefabrication of specific parts with geometries complex without using molds and additive manufacturing equipment with the possibility of operating 24 h / 7 days.

Project ‘Contour Crafting’

In the United States, Dr. Behrock Khoshnevis and other researchers from the University of Southern California, developed the ‘contour crafting’ technology where a three -dimensional printer that moves in a rail structure is capable of building houses in less than 24 hours using A kind of mortar.

The “Contour Crafting” technology executes the process through the creation of layers, with this method there is an alternative for the manufacture of house at low costs and generating a solution to the social problem of the necessary homes for the people located in low economic strata.

Development of the "Contour Crafting" process

As mentioned above, Professor Behrokh Khoshnevis developed a process called "Contour Crafting" or "Construction by contours" that was instrumental for the construction of the interior and exterior of the walls of a house.

First, the teacher designed a 3D printer that was used to test the small -scale process in the laboratory. After getting good results, it set out to build a larger 3D printer to use it in the main work. The 3D printer was designed to function in a flat slab on the ground. Ryles were installed next to the building on the sides of the marked area for the building. These rails had the function of supporting the crane bridge that covered the full length of the building area. The 3D printer had some nozzles through which the concrete layers came out. The concrete layers stacked into the inside and exterior part of the wall of the house and finally the company filled the intermediate holes with an insulating or with more concrete. 

Dr. Khoshnevis emphasized a large -scale three -dimensional printer that facilitates the printing of large structures especially of the concrete material in which the necessary ducts are incorporated for the services of the desired object such as electricity and air conditioning units.

In Italy, through the WASP group (World’s Advanced Saving Project), 3D printers already produce popular houses using mud and fibers as base material. A three -dimensional printer that transcended in history was designed and Big Delta was appointed, whose purpose is to achieve impressions at large dimensions and at the same time, have the ability to build complete homes manufactured based on clay material at low investment costs and time execution, thanks to the scheme with which the machine was designed. Big Delta is ideal in the implementation of large -scale housing projects and people with difficult economy for the acquisition of having their own place to live.

The dimensions in which this printer was built are close to six meters wide and 12 meters long, it is a construction of the global advanced savings project (WASP) and its capacity is defined in the construction of layers one by one with a mixture Formed by natural and sustainability materials such as clay, mud, earth, straw and plant fibers, which are subjected to the transport of a channel through the central nozzle of the equipment.

Winsun has used a three -dimensional printer in which it combines some materials such as cement, a special hardener chemist and together with the industrial waste in which the glass is located in order to achieve the construction of a five -level building and an environment of an environment of 1.100 square meters. 

Ma Yihe, has used a 3D printer, for a period of more than ten years in the construction sector, have approximate dimensions of 6.6 meters high, 10 meters wide and 40 meters long. This equipment executes large -sized impressions of parts and parts in the company’s infrastructure and are then assembled in the final place with layers made of steel material and some layers of insulating material that allow to comply with the existing regulations of the construction sector. More recently, the North American company Apis Color developed a 3D printing machine that contains a robotic arm and is able to print a 38m² house for less than 10,000 dollars and with a durability greater than half a century.

The use of these new technologies also generates limits and one of the most contradictory that becomes the greatest obstacle to the use of 3D printing in construction is precisely the main objective of its creation: speed in the process, because logistics, installation and maintenance of a three -dimensional printer on the works site, requires a strong investment in its support structure, workforce and study for transport and storage, which hinders its use.

There is also the height limitation of entrepreneurships and the need for support equipment for installation of doors, windows and elements of facilities projects, such as electric and pipes, since three -dimensional printers print the structure with openings, but they still do not print The other components. These restrictions with the considerable development of three -dimensional printers in the civil construction market will be overcome by redefining the way in which it is currently built and in the future.

With regard to operation, the great evolution is in the fact that through these machines it is no longer necessary to carry out a project for each view, this being subsequently made by someone trained for this function. It is now possible to use a 3D modeling program and send the project directly to the printer, which will make the object. Through this system, greater precision is guaranteed in the execution of the project, since the possible errors that occur during manufacturing are reduced, once the machine follows exactly the instructions of the material that was supplied to it, which really saves time , materials and costs.

The third industrial revolution has been characterized by serial production through the automation of manufacturing lines, industry technology, and especially 3D printer allows a production more adapted to the specific needs of each customer. In the so -called Fourth Industrial Revolution, every year there is a greater influence of emerging technologies, part of the industries are adhering digital manufacturing technologies and making their factories more intelligent and effective, in the face of industry trends for a more efficient and personalized production from the union between robotization and analytical data technologies.