The supersizing of printer technology could significantly extend the limits of concrete. By adapting technologies similar to those used in ink-jet and 3D printers and rapid prototyping machines for large-scale use, researchers in the U.S. and the U.K. are developing automated systems capable of rapidly constructing houses and other structures.
This spring, the University of Southern California’s Center for Rapid Automated Fabrication Technologies (USC’s CRAFT) plans to test its large- scale 3D printing system by building a 300-square-foot house in a day. The extrusion technology consists of a tank for cement, polymers, ceramic slurry or other wet materials, a nozzle, and several precisely controlled trowels. The machine could ride on a gantry, a robotic unit or crane.
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