3D Printing or more specifically the range of materials used
in 3D Printing has grown substantially in recent years. I have a personal 3D
printer, but it’s nothing special; it’s your typical ABS/PLA plastic fused-deposition
printer, MIT on the other hand has produced a work printer which prints glass
[1]. Materials have been one of the biggest limitations for 3D printing going
becoming mainstream in manufacturing. Other printers capable of printing metal
have found uses in aerospace and energy applications such as printing turbine
blades like those produced by Siemens [4]. 3D printing is creating new
opportunities for unique structural designs in multiple applications which would
otherwise be impossible or extremely cost-prohibitive/labor-intensive to
produce. Take the bridge printed by Dutch robotics company MX3D [2], this design
is both structural at the same time sculptural, it would be exceedingly
difficult to fabricate the design by conventional means. Imagine this being
applied to a building, unimagined architectural and structural forms become
possible, structural members could become part of the architectural design. Of
course designing with newer more complex forms poses some challenges from a
design standpoint. The biggest challenge from design will come from the
analysis and determining if unusual forms are capable of sustaining the loads
placed on them. This is where advances in Building Information Modeling (BIM)
would come in handy. BIM programs such as Revit are capable of producing finite
element models for structural analysis [3]. The use of BIM and other Structural
analysis software could make the design of unique structural members feasible
which would revolutionize design possibilities. From an efficiency standpoint
the use for 3D printing could expedite manufacturing and also cut down on
potential conflicts by allowing the structure to more closely follow the
architectural design and avoid mechanical and plumbing systems. This greater
efficiency also comes from the ability to go straight from design to
manufacturing; the model becomes the manufacturing plan and eliminates the need
for shop drawing and the review time typically associated with drawings is
significantly cut down.
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Gabe, I agree there will be some job loss due to advances in
AI and computing technologies (I expect quantum computing will eventually lead
to a revolution in the capabilities of AI which could make it useful in many
more fields), but I feel that despite the immediate negative outcomes, some of
the problems being faced today make it imperative that we push forward with
these advances. Changing technologies have always brought about swift societal
change, we can’t stop progress so the best we can do is adapt as we go.
Albert, I agree with your conclusion, AI is nothing to fear.
I feel that most people develop this fear for a few reasons: they don’t
understand it, they’re worried lose their jobs to it, or they’re concerned that
one day we’ll lose control over it. There are limitations we as a species can’t
overcome naturally and technology has always been our way forward, AI is no
different. If we continue to work against the tide of progress we’re only
hurting ourselves in the long run.
Christian, I found your post very intriguing. The prospect of being able to 3D print structures would not only be a breakthrough from a structural/materials point of view, but also from a "constructability" point of view. Construction costs and times would be slashed which would drive productivity immensely. Obviously, as the tech progresses, interesting new issues would have to be addressed such as what will happen to the construction management industry and a host of additions and potential amendments to standardized codes. While highly impractical, I think it would be interesting to create a small city of entirely 3D printed residential homes as a sort of "experiment" to see how the life cycle of the structures would hold up. All in all, a very interesting topic.
ReplyDeleteYes, the material is the largest limitations of the 3-D printing. When it comes for the building construction, 3-D printing is an environmental friendly method. The construction wastes can be reused by 3-D printing. In 2014, at Shanghai, China, there were 10 3-D printed houses built out for selling. The large properties of the "ink" was from the construction wastes. In this case, the building cost and the constructing time would decrease, and it is good for environment. However, some parts of construction wastes were not safe enough, and for separate those harmful wastes, the cost would raise back. Also, the material is not fully developed, so the stability of the building is a big problem. So, because of the materials, 3-D printing still has a long path to go for constructing purpose.
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