3D PRINTING

[daniel.huguet]

"Do you think that the use of 3D printing in construction will replace traditional building methods, or will it remain a niche technology?"

 

[lucky-guesser]

1) You just want us to answer your homework question for you?

2) Given tech advances in the last 10 years, the answer to this is pretty obvious.

 

[IRstuff]

WHICH traditional building methods? Wood-frame is still pretty cheap and can be pre-fabbed, reducing the time it takes to put up a building.

3D printing will invariably be limited by its current inability to make traditional rectilinear structures, i.e., textures and sharp corners. Additionally, its extruder hardware requirements make it less practical to do parallel builds.

Furthermore, one also needs to consider remodeling and maintenance, i.e., how would one rewire electrical/lights or decide to change the layout of the house or make an addition.

FYI, I was at a company that decided to do direct write on wafer photolithography for making integrated circuits in 1985, being touted as the technology of the future. The company that developed the photolithographic system no longer exists and 40 years later, there is no one doing direct write on wafer.

 

[Tobias King voxeljet]

Totally agree that e.g. wood frame traditional pre-fabbed buildings have their benefits.
on the other hand 3d printing is quite advanced and 3d printed formwork can definitely display sharpest resolutions.
However if you need unique textures like this museum which has been utilizing 3d printing for almost 800 m² of printed formwork
https://www.voxeljet.com/additive-manufacturing/case-studies/architecture/siedle-house/
or single complex shapes like walls, ceilings....

3D printing to create complex ceiling structures | voxeljet

Using our additive production method, we were able to produce the complex concrete formwork for the ceiling of the ETH Zurich.

www.voxeljet.com

3d printing is a nice tool to apply & makes sense for complex or unique shapes. And yes, I think e.g. "round" corners can be 3d printed but are not really needed.