Dive Brief:
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In 24 hours, a team led by Apis Cor — a developer of mobile 3-D printing technology with offices in San Francisco, Moscow and Irkutsk, Russia — constructed a 400-square-foot concept house outside of Moscow for a little more than $10,000, according to Curbed.
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The structure's self-supporting walls and partitions, as well as its envelope, were printed on-site using a crane arm and mobile 3-D printer, removing the need for material transportation and component construction.
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Liquid polyurethane–based insulation was also made on-site, while project partner Samsung outfitted the circular structure with appliances.
Dive Insight:
3-D printing in construction continues to achieve new milestones. With the construction of a complete house in less than a day, Apis Cor provides a residential proof-of-concept that could significantly impact current design, materials distribution and labor processes if the technology can be scaled. The company proved able to print at a daily rate of 1,000 square feet in 2015, but the latest crane-arm mobile printer brings high-volume 3-D printing capacity to the field.
On Tuesday, March 7, at ConExpo in Las Vegas, a collaboration between the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Minnesota, the National Fluid Power Association and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory unveiled a fully operational 3-D-printed excavator.
ORNL's Big Area Additive Manufacturing printer, which was used to fabricate the excavator cab, can print up to 400 pounds per hour. Project partners at the unveiling touted 3-D printing as a scalable technology, with print capabilities to become bigger, faster and cheaper over the next two years.
