Hatim Amiji - B4 - Group B

The term project focuses on the present status of construction using 3D concrete printing and how it can be improved, specifically the "concrete mix" in order to achieve construction of big complex structures (i.e. high rises, bridge decks) and the socioeconomic impact of this technology in the society. 3D printing also known as additive manufacturing is a process of producing a three-dimensional object/structure by laying down successive layers of material until entirely completed. Each layer is a thing horizontal cross section of the finished product. 3D printing technology has evolved over the years to an extent that it is now capable of producing bigger structures/objects of varying complexity. In 2014, A Chinese Company “Winsun Decoration Design Engineering Co” printed 10 houses in 24 hours using a 3D printer with a mixture of recycled construction waste and quick-drying cement. In 2015, the same company demonstrated exceptional capabilities of the 3D printing technology as they built the world’s tallest 3D printed building i.e. a five-story apartment building. The building was created using a 6.6 by 10 meter printer which pours layers of a mixture composed of glass fiber, steel, cement, hardening agents and recycled construction waste. Sections of the building were printed in the plant and were assembled on site which is similar to prefabricating concrete designs to create the final building. The building met relevant national standards in terms of building code, it was declared safe, reliable and features a good integration of architecture and decoration.

The rapid evolution and improvement of the 3D concrete printing has led to numerous research on how this can be improved to build projects of even bigger scale and complexity such as high rises, bridge decks, dams etc. The main ingredient of this process is the concrete mix and thus it determines the strength, size and complexity of the structure. Improvement in the concrete mix leads improvement in the overall technology. Also, our research will comprise if the possibility of 3D printing can be achieved using different construction materials not only concrete hence increase the variety/options of construction. The growth of this technology will have socioeconomic impact such as reduction of housing costs hence improving standard of living (since 3D concrete printing is cheaper than conventional construction method), impact on labor union can be enormous since this process in general replaces labor work by the use of a machine which pours layers of concrete.

The research will begin with a brief introduction of 3D concrete printing technology, history and its evolution in the construction industry. Technical aspects of the 3D concrete printing will be discussed such as the machine pouring the concrete mix, the concrete mix itself and its properties as well the as the assembly of the 3D printed construction elements i.e. walls, beams, columns etc. The current application and the future of this industry will be analyzed i.e. what scale and complexity of construction can be achieved as well as the alternative materials which can be used instead of concrete. Furthermore, socioeconomic impact of 3D concrete printing will be explored i.e. impact on economy, labor union and improvement in living standards.

The outline of our project is as follows:

• Abstract
• Introduction
• Introduce the project and its deliverables
• History and evolution of 3D printing in the construction industry.
• Technical aspects of 3D concrete printing
• Discuss process
• Concrete mix
• Assembly
• Current applications and future of 3-D concrete printing.
• Scale of construction projects at present
• Complexity of projects
• Alternate materials
• Future
• Socioeconomic impact of 3D concrete printing in the construction industry.
• Impact on economy
• Cost
• Effect on labor unions i.e. jobs creation or reduction?
• Conclusion

References:

1. http://www.archdaily.com/591331/chinese-company-creates-the-world-s-tallest-3d-printed-building

2. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/08/3d-printed-houses_n_5773408.html

Comments:

Maria - I agree with you that robots such as SAM are used in the construction industry at present and it is not only saving time but also reducing construction costs. With the development of such machines, the future holds more prospects of extensive use of robots in the construction industry which will be more powerful, efficient and capable of doing complicated tasks. However, this can have major socioeconomic impact on the society since it is replacing jobs of construction workers hence creating a vacuum in the job market which in turn may have a negative impact on the economy. Therefore it is important to factor in such impacts due to advancement of technology and to find the balance so that the impact is minimized.

http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/02/b4-group-d-maria-ayon.html?showComment=1454448937973#c6663408153290580973

Samuel - RTLS has a wide range of scope, it is like a GPS device attached to every single person in the building however in this case it holds more information than just the location. It can be used in hotels where each guest is wearing a wearable that provides information about his sleep patterns, choice of food/drinks, so that the hotel personnel know when to wake him/her up or what type of food he/she may like etc. This is an interesting idea, and its applications are immense, As Derek mentioned in a big construction site where hundreds of workers are working it can be used to locate a special technician when needed.

http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/02/b4-samuel-boyce-wearables-group-a.html?showComment=1454454434267#c8059420729148418938

B4 - Group B - Zabiega

I became an Architectural Engineer because I like understanding how buildings with individual systems (HVAC, electrical, structural, etc) can work together to produce a better building. So for my project I chose to do an analysis of if a building is considered green, is it considered intelligent? And vise versa. How do we define a green building or an intelligent? 

An intelligent building can be defined as:

“Use of technology and process to create a building that is safer and more productive for its occupants and more operationally efficient for its owners.”[1]

and a green building can be defined as:

" A green building is one whose construction and lifetime of operation assure the healthiest possible environment while representing the most efficient and least disruptive use of land, water, energy and resources. The optimum design solution is one that effectively emulates all of the natural systems and conditions of the pre-developed site – after development is complete." [2]

As you can read, there is some overlapping qualities such as making the building safer/healthiest. However, an intelligent building serves to make the occupants and owners more efficient whereas a green building is about making the environment more efficient. 

Right now LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) is the leading 'decider' on if a building is green and on what level is it green. Points can be awarded by numerous amount of criteria, such as reduced energy consumption of mechanical system, energy producing systems, water collection, use of reclaimed/recycled wood and even presence of bike racks. Not all of these criteria can be considered intelligent. 

During my paper, I will discuss what I believe, and what scholarly articles tell us what each building type is meant to be. In the conclusion I will decide if a building is green, does it mean it is intelligent? and vise versa.

Sources: 

1: http://automatedbuildings.com/news/aug05/articles/ibtpe/ibtpe.htm

2: http://www3.epa.gov/statelocalclimate/documents/pdf/12_8_what_is_green_GGGC.pdf

Comments:

http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/02/b4-group-b-schroeder_2.html?showComment=1454453598118#c435394374103359061

http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/01/b4-group-b-cummings.html?showComment=1454454047091#c7953705749025343908

B4- Group E- Laura Hill

For our group’s final project, we will be analyzing the origin of 3D printing for buildings and comparing the different materials and methods that are involved in the process, with the outcome being a research paper. 3D printing is something that strikes an interest in each of us individually. Some of us may be more interested in certain areas under the broad topic, therefore we are covering the subject matter as a whole to obtain a deeper understanding of where 3D printing originated, what is happening with it today, and how it may affect the future of intelligent building design.

Although the concept as a whole is relatively broad, we will narrow down on exactly what techniques and ideals are being tested and in some cases already being used in today’s construction industry. We will be going in depth about three major building materials, including wood fragments, concrete, alloys, plastic, and other innovative materials. When it comes to the different structural processes, we will go over how robotics can be considered a type of 3D printing and how that technique is being carried out already in today’s construction industry. Because 3D printing isn’t completely new, we will go into examples of how the technique is already being implicated; including examples of entirely 3D printed buildings and/or buildings with structural components that were 3D printed.

3D printing can be considered a type of intelligent building because of its innovative technology and new to the industry concept. It is changing the way the industry works in that it is creating a quicker and more efficient way to construct buildings. Rather than hands on construction, 3D printing enables technology to take care of the building aspect, and in some cases, uses artificial intelligence to do all the work for us. Although the initial cost of having a 3D printer large enough to construct an entire building, with time 3D printing will actually be able to cut costs with the lack of human labor involved and reducing the potential for harm and medical fees of workers who hurt themselves during construction. Finally, the design aspect being done on the computer and then transferred to the printer can be considered a type of artificial intelligence and therefore adds to the intelligence of the 3D printed building.

Initial Sources to be used:

1. Win Sun 3-D Printed Villa/Apartment Building

http://www.3ders.org/articles/20150118-winsun-builds-world-first-3d-printed-villa-and-tallest-3d-printed-building-in-china.html

2) UAEIC 3-D Printed Office Building:

http://search.proquest.com/docview/1698870470?pq-origsite=summon&accountid=10559

3&4) Printing with Regolith (or other moon rocks)

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20140002630.pdf

http://www.esa.int/Highlights/Lunar_3D_printing

5) 3-D Printing and Rapid Casting (Concrete and Alloys)

http://search.proquest.com/docview/214028287?pq-origsite=summon

6) 4-D Printing of the Future (Future)

http://search.proquest.com/docview/1650538777?pq-origsite=summon

7) 3-D Printing and its applications (Introduction)

http://search.proquest.com/docview/1432214803?pq-origsite=summon

8) Comparing Environmental impacts of 3-D Printing vs. Traditional Machining

http://search.proquest.com/docview/1648113434?pq-origsite=summon

9) Future of 3D Printed Buildings

http://www.architectmagazine.com/technology/meet-the-future-of-3d-printed-buildings_o

Comments:

Karan Sagar Sinha:

My group also decided to do our final project on 3-D printing; however, we are looking into various materials and techniques as a whole. It will be interesting to see how our section on concrete compares with your project. Initially, you can tell via your post you have done a lot of research already on the topic. Specifically, I thought it was interesting where you brought up that creating structural components via 3-D printing techniques actually use less materials than normal techniques, as this is something I would have believed to be the case.

Allison Lock:

Right off the bat, your topic stood out to me when reading through the other posts from group E. This is mostly because adaptive building is something that really interests me, but at the same time it is something that I know little about. It will be interesting to see how the past compares to the current technologies, and how both compare to what may be yet to come in the future.

B4 - Eduardo Borja - Group E

             From the topics given, Maria and I thought that Robotics in construction was quite interesting. It is something that is starting to develop and can actually be the future of construction. From our research we established that there are many aspects of construction that could benefit from robotics. We started out with a broad idea on what our project could be but decided to research robotics that will actually build a vertical structure.

            The category of robotics in general is an interesting topic and is one that definitely will evolve in the future. The fact that we are aspiring Engineers makes this topic really interesting. This project was chosen mainly to analyze the effects that robotics will have in the construction industry. It will be interesting to compare and contrast what robots can contribute vs. what humans contribute to the construction industry. I believe it could also be interesting to determine which human disciplines could be affected due to the introduction of robotics in the construction industry. Also, I believe one of the greatest effects robots will have in the construction industry is the fact that they will help speed up mundane and repetitive processes like laying concrete blocks or bricks.

            One aspect of intelligent buildings could be optimizing the work force. One benefit that could be huge with robotics is the fact that these machines could take over low-value, repetitive, mundane work. Human job force can be efficiently redirected to high priority work in order to have a successful facility.

            Since this topic involves a lot of research and not many robots have been implemented in industry, it is hard to obtain conclusive results. Some robots are prototypes and have done small projects while other robots are still just ideas. Most of the information we could obtain will be some sort of speculation. For example, it can be said that some robots will eventually take over human jobs but it is hard to say actually how many jobs would actually be taken.

Resources:

1.     http://www.gizmag.com/hadrian-brick-laying-robot-fastbrick/38239/

2.     http://www.roboticsbusinessreview.com/article/robotics_automating_construction_and_building

3.     http://buildingrobotics.com/blog/the-year-ahead-intelligent-building-trends-to-watch-in-2016/

Comments:

Mohammed Alqallaf: Mohammed, I found your topic really interesting. An additional two floors is certainly a major addition. The benefits of using BIM are getting stronger and stronger in my opinion. The cost schedule would be something quite tedious if Revit wasn’t there to help you guys out. Good luck with your senior design!

Karan Sagar Sinha: Karan, the topic you chose I believe is quite interesting and will definitely have a great impact in the construction industry. If a machine can print onsite any design, there will be a great satisfaction regarding the ease of constriction of the structure. Good luck with your project!

B4 - Group D - Maria Ayon

Robots have been around for many years with the purpose of completing tasks in almost every discipline, including housekeeping, space exploration, delivery services, medicine, care-taking, etc. Most recently, robots have been introduced to the construction industry with the purpose of making the construction process more efficient, as well as proving safety. I chose to do a research paper to study these robots and see what their impact is the industry as well as the impact they might have in the future.

Powered machines have been around since the industrial revolution, facilitating tasks of construction workers. Nowadays, new technologies are allowing for these machines to run without a human operator. Its purpose is not to eliminate all man power from construction sites, but to decrease the construction time of a building, allowing for a better efficiency and cost. For instance, robot SAM (Semi-Automated Mason), built by Construction Robotics, is a brick laying robot, which made his debut in the construction world in 2015. SAM needs a crew of three, including a mason and a tender, in order to apply mortar to the brick, setting it and moving along a face predetermined by a laser. Although the robot is not able to operate on its own, with the help of its crew, it is capable of laying a brick every 20 to 25 seconds. Scott Peters, cofounder of Construction Robotics says that SAM’s purpose is to leverage human’s jobs, not replace them, where a mason can lay 300-500 bricks per day, while SAM can lay about 800-1,200 bricks per day. This will not only decrease construction time in the field, but it will also decrease construction errors. A door opening designed to be located a certain distance from the corner of the building may not be exactly be placed there in reality. Robots have been designed to perfectly built by the use of sensors and coding.

In the future, with the combination of 3D printers and robotic fabrication, buildings could be constructed faster, saving money. Led by BIM, these models will be able to mold, assemble, weld, polish the metallic structure. This will allow to design for more complex-shaped structures easier. This is an idea that is been looking into, yet not elaborated. This may come as a challenge to developers of these great robotic ideas since their main purpose is to reducing cost and time, yet they may not be accounting for the numerous amounts of jobs robots might take over.

Sources:

http://www.dezeen.com/2015/10/23/robotic-construction-3d-printing-future-wolf-d-prix-interview/

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/540916/robots-lay-three-times-as-many-bricks-as-construction-workers/

http://www.construction-robotics.com/

Comments:

Sam Joyce Comment

Maq Alqallaf Comment