There has been a lot of hype in 3D printed construction, but there has been very little innovation.Enrico Dini developed a binder-based process, Contour Crafting did kind of a shaping extrusion process, and there has been work in resins, but mainly people are extruding concrete.The main technological element of most 3D printed construction systems is a concrete pump, which is obtained from commercial vendors and married to a gantry, or a robot and nozzle.
Precast concrete leaders Progress Group, however, are doing something very interesting indeed.Progress is an Italian company with around $300 million in revenue.it makes software, machines, and entire factories specifically for precast concrete.
The company started out making large concrete slabs for low-cost construction, but now has a product portfolio spanning MES software, machinery, and integrated offerings with subsidiaries in nine countries.If you need a carousel-like plant or one on a long bed, they have you covered.Now, the company has released the SPI process—a technology it has developed specifically for large-format 3D printing.
SPI (Selective Paste Intrusion) was developed in Germany, in the town of Brixen where Progress has its 3D printing center.SPI is capable of printing layers of only 3 mm each, in a job box that measures 4 m x 2.5 m x 1 m.The process has been developed to make very accurate and detailed free form parts, and has been married to post-processing and conveyancing equipment.
Explicitly, the company says that, “3D printing in the construction industry as an extension of existing possibilities and not as a revolution in concrete production.3D printing makes particular sense where complex moulds or small batch sizes are required, which could otherwise only be produced at great expense.Applications that have already been realized include façades, balconies, formwork and special prefabricated elements.” The company also stated that the process is “No competition for 3D concrete printing on the construction site.
In contrast to the common image of 3D printing houses directly on the construction site, the Progress Group is focusing on the production of precast concrete elements in the factory.This method offers numerous advantages such as working independently of the weather, better quality control and optimized working conditions.” It’s always very comforting when firms enter the fray by qualifying their offering, rather than screaming inanities at the top of their lungs.Onsite 3D printed precast elements could, in and of themselves, be seriously impactful in the building industry.
In a 2022 article we pointed out that for those chasing profit and revenue, precast custom elements in low volumes could be far more attractive.At the same time, I echo Progress’s point here in saying that there could be growth in onsite 3D printing (especially for remote areas in my mind), but simultaneously and separately, there could also be growth in precast.In some cases I would say that they could compete, but these are both immense markets that can be addressed.
A small garage could better be made in a factory, whereas a large tank may not be transportable by road; perhaps that would be better printed on-site.Meanwhile, both approaches compete with billions in invested capital in doing things the old ways.The huge innovation here is through creating a large build volume binder jetting process.
That, coupled with a build box and a conveyancing series of machines, enables hereto unseen accuracy and throughput in detailed parts.I reached out to Progress to understand more about the process.Each 3 mm layer is injected with a material through inkjet nozzles, using the scalability and accuracy of inkjet in a large-format way. Initially, 1 to 3 mm of dry sand is injected, and paste is then selectively injected.
Unbound material is a support material that can be recycled.The company told me that the “contour is formed by the targeted intrusion of the paste.” Uniquely, “overhangs and delicate structures are possible because the surrounding particle bed serves as an integrated support structure.” In this way, “Freely shaped components can be realized, which would be difficult or very costly to produce using conventional concrete construction.” As with other technologies, this skips the formwork steps.It gets interesting when “With suitable cement paste and high void filling, compressive strengths of up to 78 MPa after 7 days have been achieved.” That in and of itself is remarkable, but Progress says the finished parts also have “strong performance in freeze-thaw resistance, de-icing salt resistance, and carbonation resistance, comparable to conventionally produced concrete.” Binder jet automated construction parts have previously had an Achilles heel, which has been that the binder and build material exhibit different characteristics when frozen.
When I was with Materialise in 2011, former CEO Fried Vancraen would always have people put 3D printed construction parts outside and on the roof, and they would invariably break if there was any frost.If Progress has solved this issue, they could very well be on their way to making a real breakthrough here in 3D printed construction.Higher accuracy and detail, coupled with throughput, could really make this a tool to be used at scale by its clients.
I really think that this is the most exciting news I’ve heard in 3D printed construction in many years, and hope to see more of Progress’s progress in making this a widely used 3D printing technology globally.Subscribe to Our Email Newsletter Stay up-to-date on all the latest news from the 3D printing industry and receive information and offers from third party vendors.Print Services Upload your 3D Models and get them printed quickly and efficiently.
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