Additive Manufacturing in the Construction Industry: The Comparative Competitiveness of 3D Concrete Printing
Source abstract
Abstract
The construction industry is facing increasing pressure to improve productivity and decrease its environmental impact. Additive manufacturing (AM) technologies, especially three-dimensional concrete printing (3DCP) technology, have provided many benefits for construction. However, holistic comparative studies of the competitiveness of 3DCP and conventional methods, from cost and time perspectives, are lacking. Choosing between the methods is difficult for practitioners. In this study, we investigated the current state of 3DCP in the construction industry using seven distinct scenarios. Our analysis was performed to illustrate the impact of design and supply chain configurations on performance. The results prove the notable competitiveness of 3DCP. In contrast to the conventional construction method, the more complex round design had a positive impact on the cost and process time in 3DCP scenarios. Additionally, we show that on-site 3DCP using a robotic arm was more cost-effective than off-site 3DCP.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Innovations in Concrete and Construction Materials · Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing Technologies · BIM and Construction Integration
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Aalto University, 00076 Aalto, Finland
Department of Civil Engineering, Aalto University, 00076 Aalto, Finland
Department of Architecture, Aalto University, 00076 Aalto, Finland
Singapore Center for 3D printing, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore
Funding
Acedemy of Finland
References (61)
Show source-provided references
1. Valente, M., Sibai, A., and Sambucci, M. (2019). Extrusion-based additive manufacturing of concrete products: Revolutionizing and remodeling the construction industry. J. Compos. Sci., 3.10.3390/jcs3030088 ↗
2. Industry revolution IR 4.0: Future opportunities and challenges in construction industry10.1051/matecconf/201820302010 ↗
3. Challenges to implementing additive manufacturing in globalised production environments
4. Commentary: 3D printing set to transform the construction industry10.1680/jstbu.18.00136 ↗
5. Additive manufacturing of concrete in construction: Potentials and challenges of 3D concrete printing10.1080/17452759.2016.1209867 ↗
6. Scott, C. (2021, March 20). Chinese Construction Company 3D Prints an Entire Two-Story House On-Site in 45 Days. Available online: https://3dprint.com/138664/huashang-tengda-3d-print-house/.
7. Starr, M. (2020, April 10). World’s first 3D-Printed Apartment Building Constructed in China. Available online: http://www.cnet.com/news/worlds-first-3d-printed-apartment-building-constructed-in-china/.
8. State-of-the-art of 3D printing technology of cementitious material—An emerging technique for construction10.1007/s11431-016-9077-7 ↗
9. Current challenges and future potential of 3D concrete printing: Aktuelle Herausforderungen und Zukunftspotenziale des 3D-Druckens bei Beton
10. Anastasiou, A., Tsirmpas, C., Rompas, A., Giokas, K., and Koutsouris, D. (2013, January 10–13). 3D printing: Basic concepts mathematics and technologies. Proceedings of the 13th IEEE International Conference on BioInformatics and BioEngineering, Chania, Greece.10.1109/BIBE.2013.6701672 ↗
11. Holt, C., Edwards, L., Keyte, L., Moghaddam, F., and Townsend, B. (2019). Construction 3D printing. 3D Concrete Printing Technology, Butterworth-Heinemann.10.1016/B978-0-12-815481-6.00017-8 ↗
12. Peters, T.F. (1996). , Building the Nineteenth Century, The MIT Press.
13. Moussard, M., Garibaldi, P., and Curbach, M. (2018). The Invention of Reinforced Concrete (1848–1906). High Tech Concrete: Where Technology and Engineering Meet, Springer.10.1007/978-3-319-59471-2_316 ↗
14. New York and the problem of the first skyscraper10.2307/987622 ↗
15. Eiffel, G., Keochlin, M., Nougier, E., and Sauvestre, S. (1890). The Eiffel Tower, Smithsonian Institution.
16. A century of innovation in the Dutch construction industry10.1080/01446190500040349 ↗
17. Danhaive, R., and Mueller, C. (2016, January 17–19). Structure, Architecture, and Computation: Past and Future. Proceedings of the ACSA Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, USA.
18. Eastman, C.M., Eastman, C., Teicholz, P., Sacks, R., and Liston, K. (2011). BIM Handbook: A Guide to Building Information Modeling for Owners, Managers, Designers, Engineers and Contractors, John Wiley & Sons.
19. The four roles of supply chain management in construction10.1016/S0969-7012(00)00013-7 ↗
20. New perspectives on construction supply chain integration10.1108/13598540110402700 ↗
21. Understanding construction supply chain management10.1080/09537287.2015.1045953 ↗
22. Distributed supply chain management using ant colony optimization10.1016/j.ejor.2008.11.021 ↗
23. Distributed or centralized? A novel supply chain configuration of additively manufactured biomedical implants for southeastern US States10.1016/j.cirpj.2018.12.001 ↗
24. Industrialization in building construction: Production technology or management concept? Understanding the Construction Business and Companies in the New Millennium
25. Towards adoption of prefabrication in construction10.1016/j.buildenv.2006.10.003 ↗
26. A literature review of the advantages and barriers to the implementation of industrialised building system (IBS) in construction industry
27. Fenner, A.E., Razkenari, M., Hakim, H., and Kibert, C.J. (2017, January 1–3). A review of prefabrication benefits for sustainable and resilient coastal areas. Proceedings of the 6th International Network of Tropical Architecture Conference, Tropical Storms as a Setting for Adaptive Development and Architecture, Gainesville, FL, USA.
28. Investigating additive manufactured lattice structures: A multi-instrument approach10.1109/TIM.2019.2959293 ↗
29. Malaeb, Z., AlSakka, F., and Hamzeh, F. (2019). 3D concrete printing: Machine design, mix proportioning, and mix comparison between different machine setups. 3D Concrete Printing Technology, Butterworth-Heinemann.10.1016/B978-0-12-815481-6.00006-3 ↗
30. Applications of additive manufacturing in the construction industry—A forward-looking review10.1016/j.autcon.2017.12.031 ↗
31. Prospective study on the integration of additive manufacturing to building industry—Case of a French construction company
32. Ghaffar, S.H., Corker, J., and Fan, M. (2018). Additive manufacturing technology and its implementation in construction as an eco-innovative solution. Autom. Constr., 93.10.1016/j.autcon.2018.05.005 ↗
33. Nerella, V.N., and Mechtcherine, V. (2019). Studying the printability of fresh concrete for formwork-free concrete onsite 3D printing technology (CONPrint3D). 3D Concrete Printing Technology, Butterworth-Heinemann.10.1016/B978-0-12-815481-6.00016-6 ↗
34. 3D printing of buildings and building components as the future of sustainable construction10.1016/j.proeng.2016.07.357 ↗
35. Bhooshan, S., van Mele, T., and Block, P. (2018). Equilibrium-aware shape design for concrete printing. Humanizing Digital Reality, Springer.10.1007/978-981-10-6611-5_42 ↗
36. 3D printing trends in building and construction industry: A review10.1080/17452759.2017.1326724 ↗
37. Goldin, M. (2014, April 29). Chinese Company Builds Houses Quickly with 3D Printing. Available online: mashable.com.
38. The 3D printed canal house
39. Vision of 3D printing with concrete—Technical, economic and environmental potentials10.1016/j.cemconres.2018.06.001 ↗
40. 3D-printed concrete: Applications, performance, and challenges
41. De Soto, I.A.-J.G., Joss, S., and Hunhevicz, J. (2019). Implications of Construction 4.0 to the workforce and organizational structures. Int. J. Constr. Manag.
42. Particle-bed 3D printing in concrete construction—Possibilities and challenges10.1016/j.cemconres.2018.05.018 ↗
43. Metal 3D printing in construction: A review of methods, research, applications, opportunities and challenges10.1016/j.engstruct.2018.11.045 ↗
44. Comparative economic, environmental and productivity assessment of a concrete bathroom unit fabricated through 3D printing and a precast approach10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121245 ↗
45. Jagoda, J., Diggs-McGee, B., Kreiger, M., and Schuldt, S. (2020). The Viability and Simplicity of 3D-Printed Construction: A Military Case Study. Infrastructures, 5.10.3390/infrastructures5040035 ↗
46. Allouzi, R., Al-Azhari, W., and Allouzi, R. (2020). Conventional Construction and 3D Printing: A Comparison Study on Material Cost in Jordan. J. Eng., 2020.10.1155/2020/1424682 ↗
47. Bell, W. (2002). What do we mean by futures studies. New Thinking for a New Millennium: The Knowledge Base of Futures Studies, Routledge. Chapter 1.
48. Scenario types and techniques: Towards a user’s guide10.1016/j.futures.2005.12.002 ↗
49. Townsend, T. (2021, March 29). International Construction Market Survey 2019. Available online: https://www.turnerandtownsend.com/en/perspectives/international-construction-market-survey-2019/.
50. (2021, March 27). Rakennustieto. Available online: https://kortistot.rakennustieto.fi/kortit/Ratu%20F31-0360.
51. KUKA KR 120 R3900 Ultra, K. (2021, March 28). Augsburg: KUKA Deutschland. Available online: https://www.kuka.com/-/media/kuka-downloads/imported/6b77eecacfe542d3b736af377562ecaa/0000189662_en.pdf?rev=fb14749f6d8a4fc78eefb97fe35d948b&hash=463F7C79587ADF40E64888B874957A21.
52. (2021, March 28). Duo-Mix-Connect-M-Tec. Available online: https://m-tec.com/construction-site-equipment/machines/mixing-pumps/duo-mix-connect/.
53. A review of 3D concrete printing systems and materials properties: Current status and future research prospects10.1108/RPJ-09-2016-0154 ↗
54. Aggarwal, V., and Parameswaran, L. (2015). 2015. Effect of overweight trucks on fatigue damage of a bridge. Advances in Structural Engineering, Springer.10.1007/978-81-322-2187-6_190 ↗
55. Sanjayan, J.G., and Nematollahi, B. (2019). 3D concrete printing for construction applications. 3D Concrete Printing Technology, Butterworth-Heinemann.10.1016/B978-0-12-815481-6.00001-4 ↗
56. Nematollahi, B., Xia, M., and Sanjayan, J. (July, January 28). Current progress of 3D concrete printing technologies. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction, Taipei, Taiwan.
57. Gaudillière, N., Dirrenberger, J., Duballet, R., Bouyssou, C., Mallet, A., Roux, P., Zakeri, M., and Xtree, E.R. (2020). Industrialising Concrete 3D Printing: Three Case Studies. Design Transactions: Rethinking Information Modelling for a New Material Age, UCL Press.10.2307/j.ctv13xprf6.31 ↗
58. Applicability of using the 3D concrete printing technology in Sudan
59. Diks, T. (2019). The Roadmap to Standards for 3D Concrete Printing. Research on the Interplay between Technological and Legislative Developments. [Bachelor’s Thesis, University of Twente].
60. ISO ISO/ASTM PRF TS 52930. Available online: https://www.iso.org/standard/79527.html.
61. Direct digital construction: Technology-based operations management practice for continuous improvement of construction industry performance10.1016/j.autcon.2019.102910 ↗