3D printing has long grown out of its initial rapid prototyping applications to become a fully-fledged manufacturing process. Known in the industry as additive manufacturing, it’s being used for producing an ever-widening array of things, from dental implants to jet engine parts. Indeed, it was only a matter of time before it reached the construction industry.
In simple terms, 3D printed houses are built by depositing material in a layer-by-layer manner. A paste-like concrete mixture is extruded through a nozzle that’s guided by an enormous gantry, creating walls from the ground up one layer at a time.
It doesn’t sound complex at first, and it really isn’t. The implications of such a construction process, however, are immense. Though still in its very early stages, it has already shown promising results and has rapidly caught the attention of the media.
The question is, is the hype around construction 3D printing really deserved? In this article, we’ll dive deep into the subject and show why we believe 3D printed houses might just be the next big thing.
Great article, I can see the automotive parts industry headed in the same direction. No longer need a large warehouse full of inventory, just need some metal 3D printers.
The auto industry will never get away from the just in time delivery system they have been using for the build plants.
The problem is the manufacturers are all about volume. They want to pump out as many as possible as long as possible, and they keep their equipment running until it fails, patch it until it functions the push it to failure agian.
Not a great environment for precision equipment. That’s why the leave parts to other companies, they don’t want the hassle, they just want to assemble and shove it out the door.
(I work for a major auto manufacturer in Canada, in the plastics department haha)