INTELLIGENCE
The potential of 3D printing
FEBRUARY 2021
Enrico Borgarello, Director of Global Product Innovation at HeidelbergCement, discusses supplying the material for Germany’s first 3D-printed residential building
14 BUILDING ENGINEER
New design possibilities By following the principle of contour crafting, parts of buildings – or even a whole house – are digitally produced, layer by layer, without manual labour. PERI’s huge portal robot creates in five minutes approximately 1m2 of wall surface – and that is completely without formwork or scaffolding.
H
anson UK’s parent company, HeidelbergCement, was tasked with developing an innovative material, i.tech 3D, specifically for 3D printing and suitable for use with various types of 3D printers. The design and development of a cement-bound material for 3D printing was a major challenge, and i.tech 3D is the result of extensive research and testing. It has allowed us to adapt concrete, a traditional building material, to the possibilities offered by digitisation. The material contains selected mineral components and additives to ensure very good pumpability and extrusion properties. It also quickly develops
14-15 3dHouse_BE Feb 2021.indd 14
sufficient load-bearing capacity so that the lower layers do not give out under the load of the upper ones and, at the same time, ensures a strong bond between layers. It is being used to build a two-storey detached house with three-shelled walls in Beckum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The outer walls are filled with insulating material, while the inner shells are filled
with a standard ready-mixed concrete. Unlike most concrete walls, the printed ones do not need to include rebar for strengthening. Engineering consultancy Schießl Gehlen Sodeikat supported the development of the concept and the planning and execution of the corresponding approval tests, carried out by the Technical University of Munich.
“i.tech 3D has allowed us to adapt concrete, a traditional building material, to the possibilities offered by digitisation”
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