Building a house can be as easy as pressing a button. Paul Tinari, a scientist in British Columbia,
Canada, has invented a cheap, lightweight and fast 3D printing system. He says the system can construct a four-bedroom concrete outer frame in 24 hours, and at only 10% of the cost of traditional construction.
Tinari believes that the construction industry is just one of many industries that can be transformed by 3D printing technology. The
equipment is operated by suspending the concrete pouring nozzles in a metal cage by means of steel cables attached to the four towers.
The cables are mainly controlled by a computer and move independently to achieve precise printing of the structure.
Although 3D printing has been developing for decades, Tinari believes that the technology will eventually enable more economic and mechanical applications.
"In the construction industry, this trend is taking shape," Tinari said. "Companies around the world are producing 3D printers, but few of them are commercialized."
Modern concrete printers often require bulky and fragile trusses or mechanical arms, which are prone to accidents and difficult to transport to their destinations. To solve this problem, Tinari borrowed techniques from loggers who used steel cables to move heavy logs down the mountain.
"The hardest part was the software, which we needed to compensate for the vibration and droop," Tinari said. "Once that was fixed, it was a simple, lightweight and effective system, a tenth of the price of other systems, easy to configure and easy to transport to remote areas."
The prototype printer was developed with funding from the Civilian Advanced Research Projects Agency, owned by entrepreneur Kathleen Staples. Tinari is still waiting for the printed structure to undergo official strength tests before issuing permits to build in various jurisdictions, but he is confident that the structure will not only pass the tests, but will be stronger than traditional structures. "Tests so far have shown that the 3D printed wall is harder than poured concrete,"
he said. He also stressed that he and his team are experimenting with a specialized concrete mix that incorporates carbon fiber and eliminates the need for steel.
Tinari says he fell in love with 3D printing at first sight and has been working with the technology since the 1980s, when he worked as a consultant for NASA. At that time, it took a large number of supercomputers to work for hours to run a printer, but now it only needs to be operated on a laptop. And at that time, only a few materials could be printed. Now, 3D printers can process thousands of materials.
"You can even print a house made of chocolate," Tinari joked. Tinari chronicles the history and possible future of 3D printing in his book The Joom Destiny. He expects that fast 3D printers will be common in every home and industry.
He says his equipment is especially useful for quickly addressing affordable housing needs in the Lower Mainland, rebuilding houses after natural disasters (days rather than years), and rebuilding dilapidated housing on remote First Nations reserves with poor access.
Tinari added that the technology could also reduce the amount of labor and solve the current shortage of skilled labor in the construction industry. But right away, he explained the fear of printers destroying jobs.
"This happened before the technological revolution, when horses were involved," Tinari said. "Thousands of people lost their jobs in the horse industry, but they gained new jobs in the fast-growing automotive industry. Of course, many people will lose their jobs, but higher-level employment opportunities will be created in the 3D printer industry. More jobs will be created than lost.
Tinari's next step is to start producing houses on First Nations reserves in June, where building codes are not required.
"We will invite inspectors to work together to prove the feasibility of the technology and show that these buildings are superior to traditional building structures," Tinari said. "We are still using the same building methods as the Romans, and I think I should apply my knowledge and innovation to the construction industry."
Tinari was born in Connecticut, USA, and moved to Montreal, Canada at the age of five. In 1981, he graduated in engineering physics from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, and received a PhD in fluid dynamics from the Von Karman Institute in Brussels. His research involves the development of a heat transfer system for the NASA Space Station.
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