Simulating the Workflow of Industrial Robotic Steel and Concrete 3D Printers to Build Organic Shaped Structures

Abstract

For decades, humans have designed concrete structures according to limited shapes of concrete elements that can be cast into forms and rebar shapes that can be manufactured on a mass scale. Architectural creativity has always been bound by the structural design capabilities and constructability. With generative design emerging, organic shapes of architectural elements are expected to be more emphasized in design outputs. This is accompanied by organic design of structural elements and reinforcement shapes that are generated with optimized layouts based on algorithms that explore thousands of design possibilities. Manufacturing of such steel reinforcement has never been possible before. However, with the emergent of 3D printing and advanced robotics in steel printing, engineering designs are only bound by the architect's creativity. This paper aims to propose, analyze and optimize the workflow of concrete and steel printing robots on a construction project. Data on the printing properties (concrete and steel printing speed, robot speed, robot arm, etc.) are based on the best performing robots in the industry. Then agent based modelling using Anylogic was performed to simulate the printing of retaining and shear walls for a floor in a reinforced concrete building. Results show values used for later optimization of steel printing heads to concrete printing heads ratios using the current technology. Additionally, this study shows that the proposed method can reduce both time and cost in a construction project and provide cleaner, safer, more automated and unbounded construction processes. Findings from this research call for an in-depth investigation of the capabilities of steel 3D printing and its utilization in construction. It also highlights the importance of considering the application of new construction tools that would cope with the rapid growth of computational power, and its adoption in design practices.