Civil Insight: A Technical Magazine Volume 2 | Page 53

CIVIL INSIGHT 2018
STUDENTS’ SECTION
53
DISCUSSION
Construction of buildings using 3D printing usually requires locally available materials. These materials include
geopolymer concrete which is made by utilizing fl y ash (a waste product from a thermal power plant), ground
granulated blast furnace (a waste product generated in a steel plant) and mud. The technology contributes to
the mitigation of climate change with minimal emission of Carbon dioxide. It helps shrink issues of shortage of
skilled labor, high production cost and construction time. Health and safety concerns of the workers are also
thus eliminated. Moreover, 3D printing can be utilized to build complex structures like curvilinear structures,
with much comfort and fl exibility in design. In the fi eld of architecture, it is applied in creating a realistic scale
down model in a short time for better visualization of designs.
Figure 3: A 3D-printed bridge in Spain Figure 4: A 3D-printed house in China
(Source: IAAC) (Source: all3dp.com)
Due to its advantages over the traditional construction, 3D printing has progressively made its place in
constructing several residential as well as commercial buildings, bridges and even villages in some of the
developed countries. Taking glances at the recent activities, a 3D printed offi ce called ‘Offi ce of the Future’
in Dubai has reduced labor cost by 50 to 80 percent and construction cost by 30 to 60 percent. Similarly,
MIT researchers printed a 50 feet diameter and 12 feet high dome-like structure from insulation foam
material,reducing the production time and resources needed. Chinese engineers took it to a whole new level
by printing a 400 square feet villa from C30-grade concrete that can withstand an earthquake of 8 Richter
scale. In Madrid of Spain, engineers printed a 12m long and 1.75m wide pedestrian bridge with micro-
reinforced concrete. The Village of Shamballa in northern Italy will be the fi rst-ever village completely created
by the 3D printer.
3D-printed houses made by locally available resources like mud, clay and plant fi bers for reinforcement
instead of concrete are sure to reduce environmental degradation. In El Salvador, slums are being replaced
by 3D-printed houses. Organizations like NASA and ESA are undertaking researches to build Martian and
lunar settlements with 3D printing, using locally available materials of Mars and the moon respectively. It is
believed that it could be possible to construct safe, reliable and affordable lunar and Martian structures and
laboratories before humans actually go there for settlements. These are just a few examples of the potentials
and benefi ts of 3D printing technology over conventional construction method.