3D PRINTED HOUSES

LIST OF TABLES

Table Number Title Page Number

TABLE ( 4.2.1) COMPONENTS 13

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Number Title Page Number

Figure (2.1.1) Stereo-lithography (SLA) 5

Figure ( 2.1.2) The Contour Crafting System 6

Figure (2.1.3) 3D Print canal house 6

Figure (2.1.4) This Off-Grid Dwelling: 2016 7

Figure(2.1.5) Entire Concrete Mansion: 2016 7

Figure (2.1.6) India’s First’ 3D Printed House 8

Figure (4.1.1) Concrete Printing 11

Figure(4.2.1) Contour Crafting by University of Southern 12

California (contourcrafting.org, 2014)
Figure (6.1.1) Conventional construction v/s 3d printing 16
construction process
Figure (7.1.1) First 3D printed houses by IIT-M 18

Figure (7.1.2) Interiors of 3D printed houses 18

Figure(8.1.1) Shows some 3D printing applications in 19

construction and building

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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Emerging technologies are shaping our societies. Digitalization is affecting a myriad of
aspects, from how people interact with each other to how they search for and buy products. The
Fourth Industrial Revolution encompasses a novel technology that has the potential to make
fundamental changes to the ways products are made and distributed: 3D printing (3DP).3DP
might revolutionize the way products are made by disrupting manufacturing patterns, creating
novel visual forms that were never possible before, enabling mass customization and offering
new pathways to increase the circularity of products. At the same time, 3DP may provoke
unintended consequences, such as potential workforce displacement, impacts on trade volumes
and supply chains, fiscal and non-fiscal challenges to customs at borders, and room for
intellectual property and legal violations.
The hype over 3DP adoption, including the prediction of “print at home anything”, has not
become reality. Consumer 3DP has not gone beyond do-it-yourself enthusiasts, and 3DP
revenues were less than 0.1% of global manufacturing revenues in 2018. At the same time, 3DP
global revenues have been rapidly growing at an average annual rate of 26.9% over the last 30
years ( Wohlers Associates,2019).
The future of 3DP is evolving and, as such, its impact on different realms is unknown. This
White Paper explores these realms and serves three functions. First, it presents broad scenarios of
how the future might look like in five areas –manufacturing, trade and customs, supply chains,
legality and the environment – if 3DP becomes more widely adopted. Second, it suggests leading
indicators to monitor, predict and prepare for higher 3DP adoption. And third, it discusses the
relevance of existing policy instruments through the lens of 3DP to point to policy changes that
might be needed in the future.
The World Economic Forum drives the effort by using its platforms and multi stakeholder
network to share insights, trigger actions and develop future proof policies by government and
businesses for the further adoption of 3DP globally. This paper is part of the Trade Tech
initiative of the World Economic Forum. It has been produced by the Platform for Shaping the
Future of Trade and Global Economic Interdependence.

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3D-printed houses are created using very large 3D printers that, unlike smaller hobbyist or other
types of industrial units, are able to extrude concrete, plastic, or other building materials through
nozzles, in order to gradually build up a 3D object the size of a house.
Working with ICON to utilize their technology, 3D printing homes has the potential to
produce homes exponentially faster and at a higher quality than traditional construction.
These homes are safe, built to last, and customized to the specifications of the families who will
live in them. A New York homebuilder has put a 3D-printed home on the market for the first
time in the United States, and he is getting a lot of offers. The new home will be 1,500 square
feet, with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a garage.

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CHAPTER 2

HISTORY
2.1. Scale Models: The Humble Beginnings (1986-2000)
In 1984, Charles "Chuck" Hull a method of 3D printing where designers create a 3D model
that is then printed layer by layer into a solid, physical object. The SLA process involves pointing a
UV laser at liquid photopolymer which makes it solid. The 3D printers most commonly used in the
consumer sector are SLA printers, from companies like Maker Bot and others. It was clear that this
technique could have applications in manufacturing and beyond, so Chuck promptly took out some
patents and founded 3D Systems, a 3D printing company that is still alive and well today.

The advent of 3D and 4D Building Information Modeling (BIM) largely made the creation
of physical models unnecessary, but many firms do still enjoy showing their work off this way.
By the 1990s, several organizations began experimenting with using 3D printing to produce
modular components of full-scale projects. By the 2000s, these applications were in full swing
and getting set to transform the entire industry

Figure (2.1.1) Stereo-lithography (SLA)

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2.2. This Technology: 2006

In 2006, Dr. Behrokh Khoshnevis of the University of Southern California unveiled the Contour
Crafting System, an enormous 3D printer designed to literally print buildings in place. It works
like a desktop 3D printer, but uses a crane to do the printing, and concrete as the medium, to lay
down a building‟s structural elements.

Figure ( 2.1.2) The Contour Crafting System

2.3. This Plastic Canal House: 2014

In 2014, a Dutch firm (DUS Architect) set out to demonstrate the potential for 3D printed
architecture, by building a canal house out of 3D printed plastic in Amsterdam. The project uses
a giant crane-like printing arm called the “Kamermaker,” which literally means“Room Builder.”
This project is ongoing.

Figure (2.1.3) 3D Print canal house

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2.4. This Off-Grid Dwelling: 2016
In January 2016, architecture firm SOM announced a partnership with the US Department
of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory to produce highly efficient dwelling structures
consisting of a 3D printed pod and a combination of renewable solar and natural gas energy
systems. While the structures are not yet on the market, they promise to provide a cost-effective
means of providing shelter in formerly inaccessible and remote locations, as well as sustainable
long-term shelter for disaster relief.

Figure (2.1.4) This Off-Grid Dwelling: 2016

2.5. This Entire Concrete Mansion: 2016

In June 2016, Chinese company HuaShang Tenda announced that it had constructed an entire
concrete mansion in 45 days. The company erected the building’s frame first, placing plumbing and
electrical wiring, and then printed the structure using 20 tons of inexpensive concrete and a
computer-controlled printer. The two-story, 4,305 square foot dwelling claims to be earthquake-
proof and environmentally friendly.

Figure (2.1.5) Entire Concrete Mansion: 2016

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2.6. ‘India’s First’ 3D Printed House

Tvasta Manufacturing Solutions, a start-up founded by alumni of IIT Madras, has made what it
says is India's first 3D-printed house. The team printed the structure using a specialty concrete
that it had developed to print large-scale 3D structures in short periods. They say the mix is
based on ordinary Portland cement, which has a lower water-cement ratio. Though concrete is
the primary material typically used in construction projects, it cannot be recycled and requires a
lot of energy to mix and transport. So, the team's effort to use technology to print the house using
ordinary portland cement can “overcome the pitfalls of conventional construction.” On its
website the company says, “We have the ability to overcome the pitfalls of conventional
construction through 3D printing,” adding, “This advancement will open doors for all kinds of
research and development in the construction world.”

3.

Figure (2.1.6) India’s First’ 3D Printed House

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CHAPTER 3
MATERIALS USED

3.1. IN BUILDING ON DEMAND IN COPENHAGEN (COBOD).

Materials: Concrete mix consisting of cement, sand and other
additives
 In collaboration with FORCE technology, COBOD developed a strong and
sustainable concrete mix using recycled material.
 They used a mixing pump that automatically filled dry material mix from the mixer.
After this, water was added to the mix to keep the pump filled.

3.2. WASP: GAIA

Materials: Natural material mix consisting of 25% soil, 40% straw chopped rice, 25%
rice husk, and 10% hydraulic lime.
 It is the first 3D printed mud house made from naturally available materials.
 The 3D printing of this earthen structure used a material mix consisting of soil, lime and
rice fibers. The mix was made homogeneous and workable by mixing it thoroughly in a wet
pan mill. The extrusion was done by a Crane WASP 3D printer.
 Finishing was done by shaving clay lamina on a monolithic wall. It was then smoothed and
oiled with linseed oils.

3.3. TVASTA
Materials: Concrete mix based on ordinary Portland cement, but with lower water-
cement ratio and consisting of cement, sand, and other additives.

 IIT Madras, created a specialty concrete that was affordable as well as sustainable. It is like the basic
Portland cement but with a lower water-cement ratio.
 Amorphous metal fibers or plastic fibers are used along with the cement, based on the application.
 The structure made by them has 12 mm rebar on all four corners for secure attachment. It is also
present in the hollow sections of the structure to provide tensile strength.
 The structure was specifically designed and 3D printed with hollow sections so that while wiring and
plumbing, the walls are not damaged.

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3.4. AVAILABLE CEMENT-BASED MATERIALS FOR 3D PRINTING

 The compositions of 3D printable cement-based materials are the same as conventional

materials except for the proportions of binders and aggregates.
 The wet mix of 3D printable materials undergo various steps such as mixing, pumping, and
deposition in a layer by layer; therefore, high-performance materials are required.
 In this regard, the proportion of binders and aggregates may vary from conventional materials.
Various types of cement-based materials such as conventional mortar mix, geo-polymer
mortar, fiber mixed mortar, and nano-particles mixed mortar have been successfully used in
3DCP by the researchers.
 However, in the majority of the researches, sand is used as aggregate and limited research can
be found where coarse aggregate was used .

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CHAPTER 4
PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTION
4.1. SOME OF METHODS ARE

3D Concrete Printing
 The building industry has followed the developments on 3D printing techniques
discussed in the previous part and started to apply them on a larger scale.
 Mainly the printing of concrete and
 Cementitious materials has lately gained much interested in the field of architecture and
construction.
 Unsurprisingly, varying techniques have been developed during the past years.
 An overview of different construction-scale 3D printing techniques is given by Lim et al.
(2012). At their time of writing Contour Crafting (University of Southern California), D-
Shape (Enrico Dini) and Concrete Printing (Loughborough University) were the main
companies in the concrete printing world.
 Today, however, new players have entered the field, combining the proven printing
techniques with new features. This chapter aims to discuss these different concrete
printing techniques and compares their main pros, cons and areas of application.

Figure (4.1.1) Concrete Printing

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A sample taken to explain process

Contour Crafting
 Contour Crafting (CC) is one of the oldest still existing concrete printing techniques. The
first publications on the technique by Khoshnevis (University of Southern California) can
be found in 1998 and much progress has been made since.

 Contour Crafting is a method of layered manufacturing, using polymer, ceramic slurry,

cement, and a variety of other materials and mixes to build large scale objects with smooth
surface finish. The smoothness of the extrusion is achieved by constraining the extruded
flow in the vertical and horizontal direction to trowel surfaces.
 The orientation of the side trowel is dynamically controlled to conform to the slope of
surface features. CC is also capable of using a variety of materials with large aggregates
and additives like reinforcement fibres (Khoshnevis, Hwang, Yao, & Yeh, 2006).
 The nozzle may consist of multiple outlets, i.e. one for each side, and others for the inner
 (core) of a wall structure (Figure A.12 right). This way a co-extrusion of multiple
materials is also possible. By deflecting the nozzle, non-orthogonal surfaces such as
domes and vaults can be created (Khoshnevis, 2004).

Figure (4.2.1) – Contour Crafting by University of Southern California (contourcrafting.org,

2014)

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4.2 Process for counter crafting
The research done at the University of Southern California is carried out in three
phases (Khoshnevis,2004):
Phase I aims at developing the basic CC technology to print single-residence structures in one
go. A gantry system carries the nozzle system and robotic arms move on two parallel lanes on
the construction site (Figure A.12 left). Adding an additional support-beam picking and
positioning arm could produce conventional structures (at openings). Besides, integrating
automatic embedment of reinforcement is studied as well.
Phase II consists of expanding the system to a larger community and multi-residence structures.
This includes an automated system for beam installation, plumbing, electrical and

communication wiring, painting and tiling. This way apartment buildings, hospitals, schools and
government buildings may be realized.
phase III will pursue adaptation of Contour Crafting as the construction technique of entire
communities. Sensory systems and information technologies will be included for real-time
inspection and feedback and project management for the new technology is created for effective
implantation.
The research group in California has achieved a suitable concrete mixture based on trial and
error experiments. It contains the following components:
Table ( 4.2.1) components
TYPE II HYDRAULIC PORTLAND CEMENT 37%
SAND 41%
PLASTICIZER 3%
WATER 19%

Unsurprisingly, the mixture contains a plasticizer to increase the workability and has a small
particle size to accommodate for the nozzle diameter. The water/cement ratio equals 0,5 and
experiments shown a mean compressive strength equal to 18,9 N/mm2.
The mixture is designed to cure to maximum strength in a few hours (Hwang & Khoshnevis,
2005). In multiple publications and interviews it is mentioned that the contour crafting technique
may use fiber reinforced concrete, but both the type and percentage is unknown. No other data is
available on the concrete used by CC.
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4. Advantages and disadvantages

4.1. Advantages

4.1.1. RELATIVELY LOW-COST

 When it comes to pros and cons of 3D printed houses, the first thing that makes it
worthwhile is it‟s relative low-cost. This technology reduces the cost in several ways. Since
there‟s no need to hire laborers for constructions, it eliminates the cost entirely. Thanks to
3D printing, it is now possible to think about building homes at such a low cost that is
impossible through traditional construction methods. It suffices to say, the ability to build
homes for less can be a blessing for low-earning individuals.

4.1.2. SAVES A LOT OF TIME

 It is possible to build a 3D printed home directly from a digital design. This makes
construction rapid and error-free. It is possible to build the structure of a home in just a day
which otherwise would take months. Take Icon, the American construction startup, for
example. They developed a technology that can build a 650 sq. ft. one storey 3D printed in
just 24 hours. Even countries like Russia and China are starting to use 3D printing
technology.

4.1.3. INFINITE DESIGN POSSIBILITIES

 Aside from lower construction cost and saving time, 3D printing brings another great
possibility. The old construction methods have some design limitations. However, this
advanced technology is free of those limitations. 3D printing technology is helping the
unique and creative design of the architects come to life.

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4.2. DISADVANTAGE

4.2.1. DIFFICULTY FINDING RAW MATERIALS

 Ever since people began using 3D printing technology to build homes, finding high-quality
construction material has been difficult. The raw material used in traditional construction is not
the same as the material used in 3D printers. And there are very few materials today that can be
used in a 3D printer. Besides, most of the printers need specific materials. This means it might
not be possible to use the raw material of one printer on another.

4.2.2. NEGATIVE IMPACT ON MANPOWER

 Many of the jobs today have already been made automated in this age of digitalization. And
when this 3D printing technology gets properly started, it is sure to have an impact on
manpower and the housing industry. The demand for skilled construction workers will plummet
and leave them in a jeopardize state. A great percentage of Bangladesh‟s remittance comes
from the Middle East, where people from the country work tirelessly as construction workers.
They don‟t require a great deal of specialized skill to work in construction. But you‟d specific
skills to build a 3D printed home; which the simple construction folk doesn‟t have. As a result,
this technology will also have a negative impact on Bangladesh‟s remittance.

4.2.3. OTHER PROBLEMS

Aside from the biggest problems mentioned above, there are other problems like,

 Moving a 3D printer from one place to another can be a great challenge. Safely operating the
device on-site can also be difficult.
 Risk during construction will increase too since the 3D printer prints out everything on the
model or design all at once. Even though the printer is not at fault if the mistake is in the
design, yet, it is the printer that has to pay for it. This is because it‟s difficult to fix any error
once it has been printed.

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CHAPTER 5
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CONVENTIONAL CONSTRUCTION AND 3D PRINTING
CONSTRUCTION PROCESS
5.1. COVENTIONAL CONSTRUCTION
 As can be seen, human resources are involved in various stages for conventional
 Construction which is time consuming and expensive. Additionally, the final product
comes with a significant amount of construction wastes.
 The use of formworks in the conventional construction accounts for a substantial
spending leading to higher labor, equipment and material costs as well as material waste .
 Even for a simple geometrical configuration, the formwork accounts for 25% to 35% of
the cost of the structural work including significant amount of execution time

5.2. 3D PRINTING CONSTRUCTION

 In the contrary, 3D printing is mostly automated that prints buildings from a computer-
aided design (3D-CAD) with less involvement of human resources, and without any need
of tooling, dies/formwork, and fixtures. Thus, this method reduces many manual
processes, labor requirements, and material waste.
 According to a report by Markets and Markets, 3DCP has the potential to reduce
construction waste by 30–60%, labor cost up to 50–80% and construction time by 50–
70%
 3DCP is also environmental friendly compared
 The printing systems mainly consist of automated technologies with big 3D printers to
print large-size construction elements. A significant progress has been made on
automated technologies and robotics in the construction domain

FIGURE 6.1.1 COVENTIONAL CONSTRUCTION VS 3D PRINTING

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CHAPTER 6
A case study on India‟s first 3D Printed houses.
 Tvasta Manufacturing Solutions, deep tech startup founded by three IIT Madras
alumni, has created history by constructing India’s first 3D printed house. The
single-storey, 1BHK project inspires hopes for India’s affordable housing project.
 Tvasta Manufacturing Solutions, a deep tech startup founded by three alumni of IIT
Madras in 2016, has created history by constructing India‟s First 3D-printed house.
Constructed on campus with a built-up area of about 600 square feet, this single-storey
home consists of a single bedroom, hall and a kitchen.
 According to the company, “Tvasta‟s „Concrete 3D Printing‟ is an automated
manufacturing method for constructing three-dimensional real-life structures (at all
realizable scales). The technique utilizes a concrete 3D Printer which accepts a
computerized three-dimensional design file from the user and fabricates a 3D structure in
a layer-by-layer manner by extruding a specialized type of concrete specifically designed
for the purpose.”
 Developed in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity‟s Terwilliger Center for
Innovation in Shelter, the „Concrete 3D Printing‟ technology employed has multiple
advantages:
 Potentially reduces overall construction cost significantly
 Order of magnitude difference in overall construction time
 Brings down the related carbon footprint
 Increases productivity of labor involved
 Offers raw material flexibility / utilization of eco-friendly materials.
 It took about 21 days to 3D print this particular structure due to COVID-related
restrictions.
 Currently, the company has the capability to 3D print such a structure in about five days.
 Meanwhile, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told media persons
attending the launch of this home, “India definitely needs such solutions which do not
require much time. This technology enables building a 3D-printed house in 5 days. With
the Prime Minister‟s goal of ‘Housing for All by 2022,‟ we have a huge challenge before
us.

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How does 3D Printing reduce construction cost and save time?

“The cost reduction is achieved by increasing the productivity of workers who are involved in
the construction process. A structure that would take months to build can be done in a matter of a
few days; this contributes to tremendous savings on the time and cost of capital. There is also a
saving on the amount of material used as 3D Printing reduces wastage and the total amount of
material required to build a structure. The saving on time is primarily brought in by the
employment of robotics and automation technologies.”

Figure 7.1.1 first 3D printed houses by IIT-M

Figure 7.1.2 interiors of 3D printed houses

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CHAPTER 7
APPLICATIONS 3D PRINTED CONSTRUCTION

Fig.(8-a)houses and villa Fig.(8-b)precast offices

Fig.(8-c)warehouses and stores Fig.(8-d)Precast walls and fences

Fig.(8-e) Small bridge Fig.(8-f)Precast walls and fences

Fig.(8-g)Forms for RC columns Fig.(8-h)park furniture’s Figure

8.1.1 Shows some 3D printing applications in construction and building

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CHAPTER 8
CONCLUSIONS
Technology of 3D printing is still young and presents lot of limitations, but there are high
expectations and hopes for the future of 3D printed buildings and building components. Versatile
applications of 3D printers and the development of new filament materials that could possibly
ensure different properties to provide transparence, thermal insulation, or strength are under
development.
The concept of contour crafting, allowing in-situ printing of dwellings may require the new
architectural approach to building design. This technique will require development of new
materials appropriate for 3D printing process, but also considering sustainability issues, materials
in which traditional concrete ingredients will be replaced with environment friendly ones.

Creating the buildings with complicated shapes, may become one of the biggest advantages for
most architects. Their imagination will be able to defeat previous obstacles related to limitation
of traditional techniques of building. 3D printing may transform nowadays architecture,
nevertheless, this technique should be developed taking into consideration sustainability issues
both for material selection and construction method.

There are numerous advantages coming from developing 3D technology in construction and
most important ones could be resumed as:

 Lower costs – the cost of printing construction elements of houses is much lower than
traditional construction methods, also material transportation and storage on sites is
limited;
 Environmental friendly construction processes and the use of raw materials with low
embodied energy (i.e. construction and industrial wastes);
 Reduced number of injuries and fatalities onsite as the printers will be able to do most
hazardous and dangerous works; Wet construction processes are minimized, so that
building erection process generate less material wastes and dust compared to traditional
methods;
 Time savings – time required to complete the building can be considerably reduced.

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On the other hand, there is still a lot of anxieties that needs to be considered. The main unknown
is, if developing the 3D printing technology will not take jobs from thousands of qualified
workers.

It is hard to imagine so far that 3D printing could replace traditional construction in next few
years. It is more possible, that both technologies will be present in the industry and 3D printing
may be developed along with the traditional techniques, supporting them, especially in case of
more sophisticated building projects.

As for the software an important issue will be ensuring interoperability of the applications used
at the architectural design, structural analysis and printing process. In order of automate the
building process to manage and optimize it, translation of the digital model and verification of its
suitability for printing process must be done with minimal human intervention, most desirably
fully automatic.

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CHAPTER 9
REFERENCE
1. “ Qasim M. Shakir University Of Kufa”, “3D-PRINTING OF HOUSE”, Research gate
journal paper, December 2019.

2. “Mehmet Sakin , Yusuf Caner Kiroglu”, “3D Printing of Buildings: Construction of the
Sustainable Houses of the Future by BIM”, Article in Energy Procedia · October 2017.

3. “Izabela Hager*, Anna Golonka, Roman Putanowicz”, “3D printing of buildings and
building components as the future of sustainable construction?”, ICEBMP 2016.

4. “Wolfs, Rob”, “3D printing of concrete structures”, Eindhoven University of

Technology, February 2015.

5. “Kok-Lim Low”, “Simulated 3D Painting”, Research gate journal pape, July 2001.

6. “Truong, Andrew”, “State-of-the-Art Review on 3D Printing Technology Applications

in Construction”, UC Irvine Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2019.

7. “IIT MADRAS”, “3D PRINTED HOUSES”, TVASTA MANUFACTURING

SOLUTIONS,2021.

8. “Md. Aslam Hossain, Altynay Zhumabekova,Suvash Chandra Paul and Jong Ryeol
Kim”, “A Review of 3D Printing in Construction and its Impact on the Labor Market”,
MDPI 15 October 2020.

9. WWW.GOOGLE.COM

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