3D printing house, Vanke becomes first one
“ When digital cameras were born, who would have thought film would have the opportunity to be where it is today?”Mr. Ma likes to compare the technology of 3D printed houses to digital photography because he thinks the former is as disruptive as the latter.
On March 29, president Ma announced that Yingchaung decoration design Co.,Ltd ( hereinafter refered to as “ Yingchuang”) has successfully printed 10 buildings. Based on the information disclosed so far, this is the world's first batch of physical buildings made through 3D printing technology.
News has just come out, the domestic 3D printing world is boiling. However, in the eyes of many in the industry, this does not mean that 3D technology has brought great changes and breakthroughs to the construction industry. The exploration of 3D technology in architecture has only just begun.
It is reported that 3D printing technology will be SOHO China's chairman Pan Shiyi's galaxy SOHO printing a variety of strange looking office equipment. Wang shi, chairman of China Vanke Co.,Ltd., also said that Vanke's research and development center will print a house in three years' time using a 3D printer.
“ Everything can be printed as long as it has the drawing.”
On April 18, At Daying town, Qingpu district, Shanghai, The times reporter has seen this building that has been finished within one day, which has been brought by High-tech Qingpu park, Zhangjiang, Shanghai to be used as the headquarters of the relocation base project of Minghui iii.
It is understood that prior to the construction of a factory in Shanghai, yingchuang was interested in buying land in the zhangjiang high-tech zone. This gave zhangjiang high-tech zone access to 3D printing houses and became the first one.
As far as the eye is concerned, these 3D printing houses are significantly different from ordinary houses. The difference is first seen on the exterior facade: their walls have sculptural patterns, either horizontal or vertical.Their walls have sculptural patterns, either horizontal or vertical, and the overall effect is like a layer upon layer of whipped cream from a butter cake.
It is reported that in order to exhibit the characteristics of 3D printing,10 buildings maintain the original blank state. Among them, Among them, except one is a two-story building, the rest are one-story bungalows.
“ You see, the tallest building on the ground floor, at that time, the crane brought the entire container, and inside it was a house. And the rest of the frames are shipped to the site, and then the doors, Windows and other parts of the assembly.” A staff member at the headquarters of the third phase of the relocation told the times reporter.
The 3D printing rooms are made by intronics' plant in Suzhou. According to Ma, he spent 12 years developing three 3D printers for printing materials, furniture and houses.Among them, the machines for printing houses are 6.6 meters high, 10 meters wide and 150 meters long.
The "world's largest 3D printer" is a mystery. Yingchuang declined to visit suzhou because of trade secrets. An industry insiders told the times reporter that the machine was likely to be made from a crane.
In the video, a mobile phone provided by Mr. Ma, a times reporter saw the machine's nozzles spit out strips of ink. A new type of stone material made of sand, improved cement and glass fiber."Ink" layer upon layer formed a wall, hollow wall.
“ Our core technology is to ensure that 'ink' does not collapse during stacking.In other words, When the nozzle "spit out" the second layer of "ink", the first layer of "ink" must be semi-solidified, neither flow, and the second layer of adhesive.”
Ma told The Times that the printing process was strictly required. The solidification time of "ink" must be consistent with the printing time of the machine. Otherwise, "ink" may solidify before it is printed out, and even freeze the whole machine.” During the test phase, countless machines were scrapped.
According the Yingchuang technology developed at present, same with the traditional house, the foundation needs to be laid before printing the house. Next, the printer prints the wall structure according to the drawing, and reserves the pouring space of "beam" and "column".Finally, the reserved space is filled with steel reinforcement and concrete, and the hollow part of the wall is filled with insulation materials.
In this way, 10 buildings in Zhangjiang high-tech Qingpu park were successfully printed. Ma is confident in his technology. “ As long as there are drawings, whether it is big pants, Beijing international trade phase iii or Taipei 101, we can print them out.”
In May this year, Yingchuang also plans to hold a competition to design PK, the best design to global designers will be invited to Yingchuang, by its is responsible for the print ChengJianZhu, and display in its factory in Suzhou, PK.
Farewell to steel structure?
“ Ma yihe's 3D printing house has pioneered the application of 3D printing technology to the construction industry, which is worthy of recognition. But 3D printing can shock the architecture world more than just printing a migrant house.”Wang told time after visiting ma's 3D printing house.
The 40-year-old CEO graduated from shandong university with a major in mechanical materials in 1989 and has worked in welding institute of Qingdao general machinery factory and nestle company successively. In 2007, she went to the United States to study 3D printing technology and returned to China in 2010.
Wang Hong's Qingdao Unocal Technology Co.,Ltd was founded in 2005.The company has "invented" a flower printer that prints the word "I love you" on its petals and a 3D printer the size of a home oven that prints chairs. Since then, its 3D bio-printer has been said to be able to print biocorneal stromal cells and fat stem cells, with a cell printing survival rate of more than 90 percent.
On April 8, Wang Hong announced that her team had successfully developed the first 3D color printer in China. Soon after, she said, the company planned to combine the 3D color printer with a 6-meter-high, 12-metre-wide building 3D printer to print a "gorgeous" modern building.
“ On June 29, the world congress of 3 d printing, we will reveal the answer to a riddle, tell you how to print a what kind of building, and strive for a year and a half to two years to complete the whole project.” Wang Hong said.
After a few weeks, U.S. President barack Obama in the Netherlands in 53 countries' leaders nuclear security summit had travelled to the Dutch national museum "3D printing canal houses" project scale models such as a full size.
The project, the world's first 3D printed house under construction, was designed by Amsterdam DUS architects and will take about three years to complete. The building is expected to have 13 rooms. The main body is still made of concrete, and the rest is printed by a machine called the KamerMaker. The basic mechanism is to print the molten plastic layer by layer and form the plastic block after solidification.
“ Our experiment was to challenge the Netherlands.”Wanghong said.
In her opinion,3D printing should lead two revolutions in the construction industry. First, the reform of building materials; Second, the reform of architectural design.
“ When the Wenchuan earthquake occurred, I reflected on why there were so many casualties after the collapse of houses in China.Recently, there have been frequent smog in many parts of the country. Lime, cement and sand have contributed a lot to PM2.5. All these make me realize that the first thing that needs to be considered in 3D printing is the innovation of materials, that is, the development of a kind of material that is both environmentally friendly, stable, economical and can be printed by machines.”
Wanghong told time that they hope to print a brand new building structure through a new type of ultra-light and super-strong material, as well as independently developed 3D printer hardware and software. Cement and steel are replaced by new building materials and new building mechanisms.
The idea of building a house without cement has shocked many of the industry's old-timers. “The biggest obstacle I encountered when I returned home was the constant reminder that it was impossible. They even said in my presence, Mr. Wang, are you crazy? Are you sick? Are you not dreaming?”
According to wang hong, the research and development of their entire technology is nearing the end and the final demonstration is being made. A "gorgeous and colorful" modern building will soon be printed and displayed in the international sculpture garden of Qingdao high-tech zone.
Is the 3D printing room unsafe?
Before MS wang and DUS of the Netherlands, Mr Ma first printed ten bungalows. It is one of the first physical buildings in the world to be built by 3D printing technology.
The news drew technicians from DUS, wang hong, her research and development team and others from the industry to visit Yingchuang, located in the headquater office, Shanghai. On April 18, it is in this office that president Ma explained some technology innovation of Yingchuang.
By printing the 3D printer of the house, the "ink" can be printed into a building, and its wall material is the same as that of the perlite.
From printing materials to eventually printing out buildings, Yingchuang has faced three times the dilemma of not being able to pay salaries and staff leaving. “ We can only sell the materials developed in the laboratory on the market, and then continue to develop them after making money. We did it for a total of 12 years.”
As for the new technology that yingchuang has "survived", Ma believes that compared with traditional building methods, it can first save 60% of building materials, 80% of labor, and shorten the construction period by 70%. Secondly, printing houses do not generate construction waste, and at the same time eliminate the possibility of cutting corners. In addition, the whole process also digests construction waste.
“ The national concrete strength requirement for ordinary houses is C20 and C30, and our materials can reach the strength of C80 above.” According to Ma, his 3D printing house is environmentally friendly, strong and economical, and it is estimated to cost 30% less per square meter than a traditional house.
However, Yingchuang creation still faces many questions. An entrepreneur in the 3D printing industry was somewhat disappointed to tell time after the visit that the essence of crazy magic stone is to strengthen cement, while the printing house is just the simplest cement house. “ It might be more interesting to print out a more complex structure.”
Because of safety concerns and other concerns, these print houses are unlikely to be accepted by the market at the moment, at best as temporary buildings, the entrepreneur said. From this point of view, the activity room is faster and cheaper than the 3D printing room, and can be used again and again.
Wu Zhikun, director of 3D printing online operation of China 3D printing technology alliance, told times that the 3D printing works are still in the experimental stage and their size is very limited. It may be safe to print small one-story houses, but it may not be safe enough to print dozens of stories of tall buildings.
Wu Zhikun believes that at present, there is no national standard for 3D printing buildings, which makes it impossible to test the safety, earthquake resistance and other properties of 3D printing houses.
However, according to Wang, building safety can be discussed in three ways. First, can 3D printing make the beams, walls and columns of houses as strong as those of traditional industries?
In fact, according to Ma, Yingchuang's 3D printing house relies on reinforced concrete structure just like traditional houses, and the strength index of walls is higher than that of ordinary buildings.
Second, earthquake resistance. “ Of our research is a kind of super light new material, the weight will be less than the traditional 'ink printing house building, vibration resistance is better, and even collapsed, the damage to the human body also is very small. But if the self-weight of the printing house is greater than that of the ordinary house, the problem of earthquake resistance is worth considering.”
Wang hong further analyzed The Times reporter that the last point is the impact resistance. “ Whether it's the canal houses in the Netherlands or the buildings we're going to print, they may not be as impact-resistant as traditional houses because of the materials.”
However, people in the industry told Times that since crazy magic stone is a kind of reinforced cement, intime's 3D printing houses need not be as crash-proof as ordinary houses.
From experimentation to reality
When Mr. Ma was dubbed the "first person in 3D printing in China," his orders kept flying in, including printing fancy office furniture for Mr. Pan's galaxy SOHO.
Mr. Ma also told time that several property developers have bought Yingchaung 3D printing houses, but the details are not immediately available.
Coincidentally, in mid-april, "vanke public forum galaxy. Wang Shi, vanke's founder, gave a speech entitled "cities make life better, not necessarily more beautiful".
At the end of the speech, Wang Shi said, "what will vanke do next? We will print the house with a 3D printer. Three years later, vanke's research center will print out a house with a 3D printer......”
On April 21, time weekly learned from Vanke that Wang's statement was more of a vision for the future. There is no information inside vanke that the real estate giant will increase its investment in promoting the use of 3D printing technology in the construction industry.
“ In the short term,3D printing is unlikely to completely replace traditional building methods.One possibility is that new technology and traditional technology complement each other. On the basis of reinforced concrete structure, 3D printing technology is combined to build some science fiction buildings and conceptual buildings.”Hangzhou Technology CEO Ru Fangjun told the Times reporter.
But Wu Zhikun thinks, at present, public awareness of 3D printing is low and little is known about the technology. “ It's ok to look at the mirror, but if you really want to buy such a house, I'm afraid not many people would like it.”
Wang hong has a different view. “ Fast three years, slow five years, the technology of 3D printing architecture will certainly enter into daily life, but the first entry field may be the national protection of cultural relics, the restoration of sites.”
“ As for the 3D printed house, the way it enters people's homes may not be to print the whole house at the beginning, but to apply the decoration and beautification inside and outside the house. For example, some high-end buildings have beautiful roof designs, which are hard to build with reinforced concrete, but 3D printing can play an irreplaceable role.” Wang Hong said. ”
But even if 3D printing ends up being an important way to build a house, “ The cost of building a house is bound to fall, but if the cost of land stays the same, house prices won't change much.In other words,3D printed houses are more about building faster and making the process greener. At the same time, construction workers can be freed from dangerous working conditions.” Mr. Ma said.
