Toward automated construction: The design-to-printing workflow for a robotic in-situ 3D printed house

Abstract

In the construction industry, the labor shortage is a global issue. Characterized by the forming process of layered extrusion and rapid solidification, 3D concrete printing (3DCP) technology begins to be used in digital concrete construction to minimize the demand for manpower. However, the utilization of 3DCP in full-scale architectural constructions is still in its infancy, involving many manual processes like rebars-binding and formwork-making, which reduces the benefits of construction automation that should be brought by such technology. Therefore, this study proposes a design-to-printing workflow to 3D print the entire structure of a farmhouse in Wujiazhuang (WJZ) village. Firstly, design strategies are built up by a series of multi-disciplinary research, including printing system development, site planning, material design, and structure evaluation. Secondly, construction strategies involving printing process organization and man-hour-saving construction methods are utilized in the 3D printing process. By applying the introduced workflow, the project saves 62.4 % of human resources compared with the traditional reinforced concrete (RC) method, and the participation of 3D printing technologies arises from 18.3 % in the common 3DCP scenario to 76.5 % in this project. The on-site construction duration of the WJZ farmhouse is also reduced by 24.5 % in comparison with the unplanned construction process.