Man 3-D Prints Backyard Castle, Plans Two-Story House Next (xpost from GD)

[KamaAina]

http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/innovation/man-3-d-prints-backyard-castle-plans-two-story-house-n190316

We've been using cement as a building material for thousands of years — but never quite like this. Andrey Rudenko of Minnesota used it in a custom 3-D printer to create a tiny castle in his backyard, layer by layer, and next, he plans to build a two-story house. He's not the first to attempt a cement 3-D printer, but this castle is easily the most impressive example of the technique yet. It puts down layers about three quarters of an inch wide and a fifth of an inch tall with remarkable precision, leaving a textured but solid surface.

The castle, pretty as it may be, was only a test run for his real project: building a house. "All interior walls, fireplaces, stairs, some interior elements... I have my own innovative design and I'm going to print with insulation," Rudenko told NBC News in an email. Even the roof will be printed. It needs to be in a warm, dry climate and, of course, things like doors and glass will have to be added, but he's confident it'll work. Let's just hope it's up to code.

[hardcover]

1. It's a great castle, can't wait to see the house.

I hope NBC does follow up stories on it.

[tclambert]

2. Doing a picture window or a garage door might be problems.

Long expanses with no support below.

[bhikkhu]

4. That's alwasy been a problem with concrete

...but certainly not an unsolvable problem, or one that can't be done right. The real problem would be whether the printer can use a good amount of aggregate rather than just cement.

[tclambert]

6. Typically you need scaffolding to hold up arches and horizontal stretches until the concrete hardens

Can the printer print around a temporary scaffolding? With brickwork, you make a plywood jig for the arch, lay the bricks on that, and remove the jig after the mortar hardens. In the pictured castle, he got around this by making really narrow windows and pointy arches.

[bhikkhu]

7. I don't think they use molds at all in the 3d printing

so it would be a matter of the stiffness of the mix, and going 1/4 inch at a time. I imagine anything horizontal wouldn't work so well without supports, but those could be added manually during the process. Definitely possible, though it would make for a less automated construction.

[packman]

3. Too cool

Amazing - new jobs created, other jobs gone - the march of progress.

[jmowreader]

5. I see the real problem

The layer of concrete it lays is 1/5" x 3/4". If the walls are 6 inches thick, that's 40 passes for one inch wall height.

[cstanleytech]

8. Does it include rebar in it or is that not needed for large structures?

[oldandhappy]

9. Castle is beautiful.

I find it hard to imagine the intensity of the concentration required for keeping focus on all those tiny building pieces -- making each one fit in a specific place. I am impressed on all counts. Love the gradations of color.

[3rdwaydem]

10. Very cool.

[pnwmom]

11. What happens to these structures in an earthquake?

[Thor_MN]

12. The same things that happens to other concrete buildings

I imagine that it would be not difficult to print right around reinforcing steel. One could easily do post-tensioned cables that are tightened after the concrete cures, as well as just printing around rebar.

[OxQQme]

13. Scale ratio?

Is it several inches tall or feet, I'm wondering.
In-consistent shadows in this picture?
Photo-shopped onto a real backdrop?
Big enough for a person to walk around in?
Or a cat?

(he drifts off into an image of our future, and the possibilities.....)

btw, there are some very fast setting concrete mixes. So subsequent passes would lay new, in liquid state, onto already set 'last pass' layers.

It would be interesting to see the printer so I wandered off and found these:

---> the concrete printer:

and nanotube printing: http://3dprint.com/3701/3dxtech-carbon-nanotube-3d-printer-filament/

http://3dprintingindustry.com/2014/03/28/arevo-labs-want-see-makers-3d-printing-carbon-fiber-carbon-nanotubes/