3 ms·
The conceptual targets are printing a chair sized object from granular material in 30 seconds, and a 2 story concrete house in 1 hour, so 10,000 is a very rough
by pontifier 8y ago
The conceptual targets are printing a chair sized object from granular material in 30 seconds, and a 2 story concrete house in 1 hour, so 10,000 is a very rough "shock marketing number", but yeah.
- sgc 8y agoYou can't print a concrete house in a hour. It would collapse. Also, in general, the slower concrete cures the stronger it is - to the point where attempts to have it cure faster will destroy its compressive strength. Concrete walls should remain in forms at least one week and far better for two, and be wetted continuously during that period. 3d printing concrete needs a massive breakthrough in 2500 year old curing technology or it's a death wish.
- pontifier 8y agoWith the concrete house in an hour, the idea is that the printing step takes 1 hour. The entire process would be performed in a massive temporary box, and an inert filler material would be placed at the same time as the concrete to fill voids and eliminate slumping. This would allow a second floor to be "printed" over the room voids below. The printing step would be accomplished in 1 hour. The curing step could happen over a week if need be.
- sgc 8y agoSo you would have house specific forms requiring massive reuse? You can pour into a typical form in an hour too. The hard part is the forming and installation of rebar. It might work, but it seems tough to make it marketable.