Andrei Jipa


Last Name

Jipa

First Name

Andrei

ORCID

0000-0002-2607-2331

Organisational unit

09566 - Dillenburger, Benjamin / Dillenburger, Benjamin

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2016 - 2019162020 - 202420
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Publications 1 - 10 of 36
  • DFAB House
    Item type: Presentation
    Jipa, Andrei (2023)
    Bauen mit Robotern und 3D Druckern Andrei Jipa von der ETH Zürich stellte heute vor, welche Innovationen im Projekt DFAB House umgesetzt wurden: ◼ In-situ Fabricator and Mesh Moud – ein umgebungsintelligenter, mobiler Bau-Roboter für die Fabrikation von Bauelementen vor Ort auf der Baustelle ◼ Smart Dynamic Casting – automatisierte Vorfabrikation von Materialoptimierten Betonfassadenpfosten ◼ Smart Slab – eine tragende Betondecke mit 3D gedruckter Schalung ◼ Spatial Timber Assemblies: roboterbasierte Vorfabrikation für Holzrahmenbau-Module
  • Free Formwork
    Item type: Doctoral Thesis
    Jipa, Andrei (2022)
    Concrete, the most used human-made material in the world, is responsible for circa 8% of the total greenhouse gas emissions globally. Due to this significant impact, efficient concrete construction methods are one of the most researched topics in architecture, civil engineering, and materials science. One of the important hurdles that need to be overcome is the limitation of traditional flat-panel formworks, which lead to inefficient and oversized building elements. Most investigations focus on extrusion 3D printing with concrete, which has the advantage of bypassing the need for formworks altogether. Instead, the present thesis considers a different approach, which aims to digitise formwork construction. At the intersection of architectural design and digital fabrication, the present research investigates a new fabrication method for concrete based on 3D-printed formworks. Motivated by the gap between the unlimited geometric freedom of digital design and the physical constraints of fabrication, the research aim is to facilitate complexity in concrete construction. Geometric complexity is not a goal in itself but rather a prerequisite for achieving material efficiency, functional integration, and a radically new design vocabulary for concrete. The thesis identifies two 3D printing technologies that are suitable for high-resolution details and large build volumes: polymer extrusion and binder-jetting. First, polymer extrusion is investigated for the fabrication of formwork shells less than 1 mm in thickness. For speeding up the printing process for large objects, a custom computational workflow is developed, and optimised for reducing the extruder travel times. Furthermore, the research puts forward methods to mitigate the corrosive action of concrete on thin 3D-printed polymer shells. Subsequently, the free-form polymer formworks are used to produce a concrete canoe, a helical stair prototype, and a funicular slab with an integrated, efficient ventilation system. Second, binder jetting is an alternative 3D printing process used to fabricate formworks with the resolution of a grain of sand. These formworks were used to fabricate two functional building elements in real-world buildings: the Smart Slab, completed in 2018, and the HiRes Slab, completed in 2021. The two concrete elements are comparable in size but use different approaches, one being prefabricated and post-tensioned, while the other was unreinforced and cast in situ. Additionally, the HiRes Slab demonstrates the integration of an efficient custom ventilation system based on thin stay-in-place 3D-printed formworks. Through the case studies, 3D-printed formworks demonstrate an unprecedented capability to produce free-form and high-resolution geometries in concrete. Due to this potential, it is a viable method in real-world construction in its own right, not simply a stepping stone towards 3D concrete printing. The approach brings together the geometric freedom of digital formworks with the material strength of familiar concreting processes. The resulting method enables new possibilities in architecture for material efficiency, structural and functional optimisation, and freedom of design expression rooted in the plasticity of concrete
  • Powder-Based 3D Printing for Building Components
    Item type: Conference Poster
    Jipa, Andrei; Bernhard, Mathias; Meibodi, Mania; et al. (2016)
  • Geopolymers as inorganic binder in 3D printing application in construction
    Item type: Other Conference Item
    Voney, Vera; Landrou, Gnanli; Odaglia, Pietro; et al. (2018)
  • Custom Concrete Components with 3D-Printed Formwork
    Item type: Presentation
    Jipa, Andrei (2019)
    Concrete is a versatile and sustainable material, whose potential for complex shapes is only limited by the necessary formwork. 3D-printed formworks can overcome this and enable the fabrication of bespoke, highly efficient concrete components which only use a fraction of the amount of material used conventionally.
  • 3D Printed Formwork for Concrete: State-of-the-Art, Opportunities, Challenges, and Applications
    Item type: Review Article
    Jipa, Andrei; Dillenburger, Benjamin (2022)
    3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing
    Concrete is the most used human-made material in the world, and it is responsible for around 8% of the total greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Hence, efficient concrete construction methods are one of the main foci of research in architecture, civil engineering, and material science. One recent development that promises to achieve this goal is the use of digital fabrication for building components. Most investigations focus on direct extrusion 3D printing with concrete, which has already been covered in several review articles. Conversely, this article reviews a different approach, which focuses on the indirect digital fabrication of concrete through 3D printed formworks. This approach is under investigation for structural and nonstructural, as well as for onand off-site applications, with a number of projects having already been built, but a comprehensive review of 3D printed formworks has not yet been compiled to synthesize the findings. This article provides a comprehensive map of the state-of-the-art of five different 3D printing technologies used for the fabrication of formworks so far. The aim is to serve as a fundamental reference for future fesearch, provide a basis for consistent language in this field, and support the development of construction standards. The article further discusses the new geometric possibilities with 3D printed formworks and their potential for making concrete construction more sustainable. In addition, the opportunities and challenges of 3D printed formworks are evaluated in the context of other traditional and digital fabrication tools. A synthetic classification in five functional typologies is proposed and illustrated with 30 representative case studies. Finally, the article concludes with a brief reflection on the role of 3D printing in the broader context of formwork innovation and a possible outlook for this technology.
  • Complex architectural elements from HPFRC and 3D printed sandstone
    Item type: Conference Paper
    Ruffray, Nicolas; Bernhard, Mathias; Jipa, Andrei; et al. (2017)
    UHPFRC 2017 Designing and Building with UHPFRC: New large-scale implementations, recent technical advances, experience and standards
  • Fast Complexity: Additive Manufacturing for Prefabricated Concrete Slabs
    Item type: Conference Paper
    Anton, Ana; Jipa, Andrei; Reiter, Lex; et al. (2020)
    RILEM Bookseries ~ Second RILEM International Conference on Concrete and Digital Fabrication
    Although slabs are major concrete consumers, they are mostly flat, oversized, monolithic boxes with significant embodied energy. The state of the art shows how computational design can lead to structurally efficient, lightweight, functionally integrated, and aesthetically accomplished slabs. However, these non-planar geometries are fabricated using complex formwork solutions involving multiple digital fabrication processes and manual concreting. This paper puts forward a novel fabrication method for the construction of materially lean concrete slab systems using two different Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes: Binder Jetted (BJ) formwork and 3D Concrete extrusion Printing (3DCP). A reusable formwork is fabricated first, using the BJ, and the loadbearing part of the slab element is then directly 3D-printed on top. This method combines the essential advantages of the two fabrication techniques: the high precision of BJ and the higher fabrication speed characteristic to 3DCP. The described 3DCP process uses a set on demand concrete that is activated inline, immediately before leaving the extruder-tool. A technical innovation is identified in dynamically varying the amount of activator for changing contour length.
  • Sandstone and Plastic: Smart Slab Switzerland
    Item type: Book Chapter
    Jipa, Andrei (2024)
    3D Printing and Material Extrusion in Architecture
  • The Nubian Slab: 3D Concrete Printed Stay-in-Place Formwork for Vaulted Slabs
    Item type: Conference Paper
    Jipa, Andrei; Anton, Ana-Maria; Gebhard, Lukas; et al. (2024)
    RILEM Bookseries ~ Fourth RILEM International Conference on Concrete and Digital Fabrication
    The Nubian Slab is a real-world 3D-printed structural concrete element for a residential building in Zurich. The vaulted slab proposes an innovative material-efficient construction method based on digitally fabricated thin shell stay-in-place concrete formworks. The method targets structural slabs, which contribute up to 60% of concrete consumption in architectural applications. The fabrication process is based on the ancient Nubian vaults. These roof structures feature self-supporting inclined masonry courses that can be built without temporary support. This traditional building technique inspired the proposed layered concrete extrusion process, with the 3D-printed concrete layers being analogous to Nubian brick courses. The key difference to conventional 3D concrete printing is the inclination of the extrusion layers, allowing shallow vaults to be produced suspended in thin air without additional supports. The paper presents the robotic 3D-printing setup with a custom nozzle, the fabrication-informed design considerations, and the current limitations of the process, focusing on the case study of a 16 m2 Nubian slab with an irregular perimeter installed in a residential building. Based on this case study, the paper outlines a comprehensive construction sequence for Nubian slabs, considering discrete prefabricated 3D-printed Nubian formworks, assembly details, reinforcement strategies, functional integration, and in-situ monolithic casting. The proposed 3D-printed Nubian slab system enables innovative material-efficient architectural design solutions that may accelerate construction times on site, facilitate mass customisation, automation and integration, and enhance structural performance while remaining compatible with traditional building practices.
Publications 1 - 10 of 36