Concrete is a material favored by architects and builders alike due to its high structural strength and its ability to take almost any form. However, to shape concrete structures, heavy-duty formwork is usually necessary to support the fresh concrete while curing. To expand geometrical freedom, three-dimensional (3D) printed concrete formwork has emerged as a field of research. This article presents one possible application, a novel fabrication process that combines large-scale robotic fused deposition modeling 3D printing with simultaneous casting of a fast-hardening, set-on-demand concrete. This fabrication process, known as ''Eggshell,'' enables the production of nonstandard concrete structures in a material-efficient process. By casting a fast-hardening concrete in a continuous process, lateral pressure exerted by the fresh concrete is kept to a minimum. In this way, a 1.5-mm-thin thermoplastic shell can be used as a formwork, without any additional support. Geometries of different scales are tested in this article to evaluate the feasibility of the Eggshell fabrication process in an architectural context. An array of printing materials are also tested, and several different reinforcement concepts are analyzed. The findings are used to produce a full-scale architectural demonstrator project. This article shows that a wide range of concrete geometries can be produced in a material-efficient fabrication process, paving the way toward mass customization and structural optimization within concrete architecture.
Digital fabrication with concrete has for more than a decade been of high interest in both research institutions and industries. A particular interest has been set on Contour Crafting, a type of layered extrusion with concrete, which in recent years has been used for the fabrication of single and multi-story buildings. However, these have been done with little proof of systematic integration of reinforcement, which until now still requires tedious post processing to obtain the structural capabilities required. Smart Dynamic Casting, a robotic fabrication process for standard and nonstandard vertical structures, has recently proven a systematic integration of reinforcement and is thereby the first digital fabrication process worldwide which has unified reinforcement and concreting in a single robotic fabrication process. This paper presents the latest developments and challenges of SDC and introduces the first architectural application in the form of structurally optimised façade mullions that are to be installed in the dfab House at the EMPA premises in Dübendorf, Switzerland.
This paper describes the design and fabrication process of a concrete column cast in ultra-thin, 3D printed formwork, using a process known as Eggshell. The column was prefabricated as part of a real-world construction project, serving as the main load-bearing element for a reciprocal timber frame structure. The fabrication of the column required upscaling of the Eggshell process, to allow for the fabrication of elements of an architectural scale. Furthermore, several challenges had to be addressed such as: integration of reinforcement, establishing the formwork design space, and scaling up the 3D printing process. For the production of the final column a 1.5 mm thin formwork was 3D printed, after which it was combined with a prefabricated reinforcement cage and filled with concrete in a set-on-demand casting process. The successful realization of the project provides a first example of a fullscale building element produced with the Eggshell fabrication process. By 3D printing the formwork, geometrical freedom in concrete construction is greatly expanded, as well as formwork waste reduced.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.