what can 3-D print do for construction industrial

what can 3-D printing technology do for construction industrial

 3-D technology is first introduced in 1995 by MIT. The basic principle is to perform a print that the machine reads the design and lays down successive layers of liquid, powder, or sheet material to build the model from a series of cross sections. These layers, which correspond to the virtual cross sections from the CAD model, are joined together or automatically fused to create the final shape. The primary advantage of this technique is its ability to create almost any shape or geometric feature.
This video may gives an idea about how 3-D printer work:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aghzpO_UZE

I dare to say that industrial revolution is happening with this type of technology. Just like steam engine change the traditional way of manufacturing, think about how easier and faster it is compare to old ways. And it does save up about 99% waste. It also provides much more possibilities to make things happen, say, we do not need to send tools to the space station but only 3-D printer and some raw material powder. we can also make something seems impossible.. XD

 So, back to construction industrial, I found some interesting news: Amsterdam-based Universe Architecture hopes to build the world's first 3D-printed house as early as 2014. Website:http://www.gizmag.com/giant-3d-printer-endless-house/25913/ 

Basically, doing 3-D printing in construction is also called Contour Crafting. I will look into it in my future study. Here is a simple picture showing how it works on structure of buildings.

A lot of headache we have in construction site can be saved with this contour crafting technology, for example, labor management, safety, scheduling... More important, it is "greener" if 90% of concrete waste can be saved. The only thing need to be worried is to input the right drawing...XD   

I remember the final project of Principle of Sustainable Buildings I took last semester is to build earth bag construction which use locally available material, like dirt and sand to build a house. With this technology, We probably make it easier. Go further, think about building a shelter or station on the moon..

Although this technology is still in developing and single-functioning on building's structure for now, the exciting part is it is getting more cheaper and more delicate. It’s only a matter of time for it's mature industrial utilization.

The Heaviest Haze Blanketed China

The Heaviest Haze Blanketed China

In this week, the worst round of air pollution hit China. Beijing became the biggest victim, under a cloud of smog since last Saturday. Murky haze raised the number of patients in respiratory and skin disease; children are kept from doing practice outside; 58 factories were suspended work and 30% of government vehicles off the road. Based on the US Embassy’s record, Levels of PM 2.5 particles (airborne particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less, which can cause health problems when inhaled) in Beijing had reached to 500 in Tuesday which is beyond the index level. (shown below)

In fact, it’s not an occurrence for Chinese people. They have been long term lived in a terrible environment. Based on the Index at Yale University, China’s environmental performance ranks 116^th overall, and 128^th on its air quality. In the top 10 cities with worst air quality, 7 are from China. This is an embarrassing score for China who is the 2^nd largest economic entity in the world. What happened to this country?

From the environment center, there are 3 reasons caused dust haze:

1.      The direct reason is high emission of pollution and dust. Mainly from 3 main pathways: coal mining, industries and vehicles.

2.      Construction’s block and friction reduced the movement of air and reduce the speed of little particles diffusion.

3.      The location of Beijing is surrounded by hills, further retarded the airflow in the city. Plus huge humidity of the section between winter and spring. Finally form this pollution event.

For these reasons, besides the 2^nd reason is directly related to construction, the first reason is more or less related to construction, or say, construction chain including industrial phase and operation phase. Actually, in the production of construction materials, lots of pollutions are emitted including imperfect combustion carbon particles, heavy medal particles and other chemical gases such as CO, SO₂, NO_X and toxic organic gas such as Dioxin, ect. Also in the operation phase, coal mine are the major heat and electrical resources in most of the cities in China which makes the control of the energy consumption in buildings a big issue.

China is struggling with how to reduce dust emission in construction right now. It seems too far away to talk about how to reduce carbon footprint because in all, carbon dioxide widely exists in the nature and seems not to toxic compare to these materials above. However, from my point of view, the solution of reduces construction dust and carbon footprint is can be the same: reduce usage of fossil energy and increase efficiency on them. Although it is not a new story and needs really long (maybe hundreds years) effort on.

Back to the of Beijing’s haze issue, construction may be the major reason but not the only one. In short term, this situation may not have a big change. But by analyzing the reasons, I learned something from it. Construction as a heavy cement structure in the city not only cause heat island effect, but also retarded the air movement. Dust will then sink down to the “low level” area. Therefore, as a city planner planning a city, try not committing a city center which tall buildings and skyscrapers are gathered in the same area. For constructors, try to design low friction surface so that air around it can freely move away.

At the last, I would like to raise a feasibility discussion, is it possible to build up an air filter system for a whole city with little energy? I am thinking about using convection. Diagraph showing below. 

 

These lines underground are ventilation system. During the daytime, sun will heat up one side of the buildings and the other side is become cooler. If we can build up underground ventilation system in the city, when cooler air move to the hotter area it will suck the nearby dust goes underground. As the sun goes from one side to another, the air will be moved back and force. The dust will move with air. If then we install a filter in the middle, it will finally collect the dust.

high performance construction