PI: Paolo Bocchini
Co-PI(s): Clay Naito, John Fox
University: Lehigh University
Industry partner: Buzzi Unicem
Over the past few years, a joint research team at Lehigh University and Buzzi Unicem UA has worked to develop a methodology to 3D print concrete structural components and objects. This new methodology falls in the general category of 3D printing by selective binder application, which has substantial advantages in terms of the ability to manufacture shapes that could not be castes with formwork, generate very refined surface finishing, and recycle all the unreacted materials and use them for future prints. This last property, combined with a general reduction of the material used (optimized shapes allow to use the material only where it is most effective), have the potential to substantially reduce waste, monetary cost, energetic cost, and environmental footprint, especially considering that buildings and construction generate nearly 40% of the global CO2 emissions. At this stage, the team will advance its research in three parallel tasks. The first is to retrofit a new printer that will allow to increase the print size, add color (for architectural applications) or additives (for structural applications, like functionally graded materials), and double the resolution. The objects manufactured by the new printer may have different material properties and will have to be tested. The second task is to advance structural design techniques that can fully leverage the freedom of shape. Multi-material topology optimization will be investigated, building upon preliminary results obtained with a novel algorithm for single material optimization. The third task is to design and manufacture an installation, which will showcase the possibility unlocked by this new approach. The team is collaborating with the National Museum of Industrial History to host the application when ready.