Robotic 3D Printing of Mineral Foam for a Lightweight Composite Facade Shading Panel
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Author / Producer
Date
2021
Publication Type
Conference Paper
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yes
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Abstract
This paper presents the design and fabrication of a
lightweight composite facade shading panel using 3D printing (3DP)
of mineral foams. Albeit their important role in industrial construction
practice as insulators and lightweight materials, only little research has
been conducted to use foams in 3DP. However, the recent development
of highly porous mineral foams that are very suitable for extrusion
printing opens a new chapter for development of geometrically complex
lightweight building components with efficient formwork-free additive
manufacturing processes. The work documented in this paper was based
on preliminary material and fabrication development of a larger research
endeavor and systematically explored designs for small interlocking
foam modules. Furthermore, the robotic 3D Printing setup and
subsequent processing parameters were tested in detail. Through
extensive prototyping, the design space of a final demonstrator shading
panel was mapped and refined. The design and fabrication process
is documented and shows the potential of the novel material system
in combination with fiber-reinforced ultra-high performance concrete
(UHPC). The resulting composite shading panel highlights the benefits
of using mineral foam 3DP to fabricate freeform stay-in-place formwork
for lightweight facade applications. Furthermore, this paper discusses
the challenges and limitations encountered during the project and gives
a conclusive outlook for future research.
Permanent link
Publication status
published
Book title
PROJECTIONS – Proceedings of the 26th International Conference of the Association for Computer-Aided Architectural Design
Journal / series
Volume
1
Pages / Article No.
603 - 612
Publisher
Association for Computer Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia
Event
26th International Conference of the Association for Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia: Projections (CAADRIA 2021) (virtual)
Edition / version
Methods
Software
Geographic location
Date collected
Date created
Subject
Robotic 3D printing; Mineral foam; Lightweight construction; Concrete formwork; Facade shading panel
Organisational unit
09566 - Dillenburger, Benjamin / Dillenburger, Benjamin
02284 - NFS Digitale Fabrikation / NCCR Digital Fabrication
Notes
Conference lecture held on March 30, 2021. Due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) the conference was conducted virtually.