A team at theDigital Building Technologies (DBT) unit at ETH Zurich正在探索在施工领域中使用泡沫3D打印。
By 3D printing intricate formwork using mineral foam, the researchers have developed a new method of casting geometrically optimized concrete slabs.
可打印的泡沫，在苏黎世Eth py的帮助下是隔热专家FenX AG，使用回收废物制成。它可用于打印功能性的住宿和临时可回收模板。
根据DBT单位，与常规的，填充的混凝土板相比，其资源有效的模板可能会导致使用的混凝土少70％。据报道，优化的平板还提供了改善的绝缘特性。
Replacing formwork with foamwork
“模板”一词用于描述创建倒入混凝土的模具或铸件的过程。常规的模板通常是使用木材制成的，但也可以使用钢，玻璃纤维增强的塑料和其他材料。古老的工艺非常适合铸造简单的形状，例如墙壁或柱子，但是一旦涉及更复杂，复杂的几何形状，它就会变得非常耗时和劳动力密集。
By opting for the foam 3D printing route instead, it becomes possible to fabricate geometrically complex formwork elements that were previously wasteful or simply unfeasible. Beyond just the performance benefits, there are sustainability advantages too as the approach lends itself to less material and energy usage, both of which are ongoing issues in the construction industry.
此外，得益于Fenx将矿物废物转变为高性能和可持续绝缘材料的专业，甚至可以去除和回收3D印刷的泡沫材料。这意味着可以收回打印全新的模板，从而进一步减少圆形工作流程的材料使用。
24 foam elements, 12 unique shapes
To demonstrate its novel technique, the DBT team 3D printed a set of prototype form elements and used them to cast a concrete slab. There were 24 formwork elements in total, each of which came in one of 12 unique shapes. All of the foam elements were produced using a custom foam extrusion setup leveraging anABB机器人手臂。
然后，团队将泡沫元素放在木材周围，并用“超高效果纤维增强的混凝土”填充。固化后，铸造板的测量为2m x 1.3m，并具有带肋的结构，每个角落都有点支撑。
实际上，类似网络的肋骨布局遵循了从平板的主要应力模式得出的等静力线，这使其与拓扑优化的部分没有太大的不同。从本质上讲，混凝土在压力最大的区域施放，最大化平板的抗压强度，同时将材料使用至绝对最小值。
Construction 3D printing has already made its way out of the academic sphere and is currently seeing use in industry. Earlier this month, Indonesia’s公共工程和公共住房部(PUPR) started trialing concrete 3D printing as a means ofmeeting the country’s demand for affordable infrastructure。在与建筑公司一起进行的测试中PT. PP (Persero) Tbkand start-upAutoconz，PUPR使用该技术从砂浆中逐层建立结构。
Elsewhere, in the Dutch city of Nijmegen, what is thought to be the世界上最长的3D印刷混凝土行人桥最近揭幕了。长度为29米，结构是由Rijkswaterstaat, the Dutch Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management, and designer Michiel van der Kley, in honor of Nijmegen’s election as a European Green Capital in 2018.
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Featured image shows a concrete slab cast using 3D printed foam formwork. Photo via ETH Zurich.
