Experimental research on transition from scale 3D printing to full-size printing in construction

Abstract The inevitable trend in the development of construction 3D printing is to change from printing the reduced size model to printing the full-size structure. While full-size printing is a mega-scale automated manufacturing process, and will face enormous challenges, e.g., blindly printing full-size buildings inevitably causes losses or accidents due to a mistake in the 3D design models or print parameters. This research proposes a method for evaluating the rationality of the models and optimizing the parameters of the full-size 3D printing, based on the scale 3D printing. A case study of a 15-m-span 3D printing landscape bridge is presented to illustrate the proposed method. A series of tests of the printing scaled models and full-size structures are conducted using an industrial printer and a five-axis printing equipment. The maximum deviation between the 3D printed bridge and the design model is within 0.9 mm, and the average is within 0.1 mm. The optimal parameters for the full-size printing such as a layer resolution of 4 mm are determined. Experimental findings indicate that it is feasible to apply the proposed method to print full-size structures, and avoid losses due to the models or parameters errors. In addition, the applications of the scale 3D printing in building lifecycle under the traditional construction mode are systematically discussed. Recommended materials and print parameters for scale 3D printing at different stages of the building lifecycle are introduced.