来自建筑3D印刷业的领导者为这项技术辩护，这是在挑战其较广泛的成本和效率优势的研究中，而不是传统的建筑方法。
Published last year by a team atHeriot-Watt大学，研究发现，如果通过阿联酋的预制混凝土建造的两层楼结构是3D印刷的，那么承包商的材料成本实际上将上涨44％。与该过程的促进益处相反，由于经常被销售为环保的，这项研究还表明，采用它只会产生边际可持续性的增长。
In response, several firms at the forefront of construction 3D printing, includingcobod，，，，Apis Corand黑色水牛3D，，，，have now reached out to 3D Printing Industry to challenge the practicality of the simulated build on which the findings are based.
Corbod创始人Henrik Lund-Nielsen声称：“作者使用了在学术上开发的食谱，据我们所知。”“实践中主要使用的是我们的Dfab solution，开发CEMEX，，，，which replaces the need for an excessive amount of binder/cement with the use of a few liters of additive (with very, very limited CO2 footprint). This way we can have a binder/cement content of roughly half that found in the study.”
“Until our concrete solution was developed, all other buildings in the Middle East were done with mortars, and that also dominates in the US for instance,” he added. “[But] it is clear that if the researchers had used a recipe for the concrete, which is found in practice and used everyday in Saudi and Oman (and soon a lot of other Middle Eastern states), their conclusions would have been completely different.”
A contentious study in construction
Heriot-Watt研究人员的研究以会议论文的形式发行，这是建筑3D印刷行业的一些潜在结论。为了评估从传统构造转换为3D打印的成本，效率和可持续性影响，团队模拟了所需的时间和材料的时间和数量，以便在阿联酋建造。
While the study found construction 3D printing to be 34 working hours quicker, it only proved 1% more efficient, something the researchers attributed to the “high carbon footprint” of 3D printing concrete. The team also discovered that switching to the technology would be around 5% more expensive than the way it was first built, although they did factor in wider one-off costs such as machine rental.
Ultimately, the paper didn’t go so far as to challenge the future of construction 3D printing directly, and its authors concluded that their study “supports the potential” of the technology for end-use applications. However, the researchers did call for further investigation into any opportunities for process optimization, which could help overcome some of the material efficiency issues identified in their study.
3D打印行业回应
Much like COBOD’s Lund-Nielsen, Apis Cor CEO Anna Cheniuntai also questions the practicality of the researchers’ proposed build. Rather than challenge the materials used in the team’s simulation, however, Cheniuntai argues that her company’s machine is “radically different” from regular gantry-style 3D printers, in a way that makes their findings “not relevant to its unique solution” to building construction.
“Major gantry printer manufacturers openly admit that their 3D printed homes are currently 20%-40% more expensive than traditional construction,” says Cheniuntai. “However, we can achieve a 34%-37% reduction in overall construction cost using our Apis Cor system.”
她补充说：“看来，这项研究的许多基本假设都是不正确的。”“例如，他们假设打印机租金成本相当于总建筑成本的37％，而材料仅占22％。我们的租赁价格预计为每月8,000美元，在此期间，四（4）2,000平方英尺的墙壁。房屋很容易印刷。”
黑色水牛3D，，，，meanwhile, is conducting its own studies into the efficacy of its technology, which could come to very different conclusions to those of the Heriot-Watt team. Working with an “independent academic team,” a spokesperson for the firm revealed that it’s now subjecting its Planitop 3D material and NEXCON printer to full lifecycle analyses, and it plans to publish the results in full once ready.
Even without having this data, the firm says that its material contains less cement than traditional mortars and can be cured to 7,000+ psi over 14 days, hence it allows users to print continuously. If molds are utilized during builds, the spokesperson adds that structures can be realized with virtually “zero waste,” and through renting its systems out, the company is letting users try these benefits before they buy.
“BB3D is not a builder or developer, but we have asked clients to be transparent about total costs of their 3D construction projects vs traditional methods,” said the spokesperson. “Our ability to rent, finance and offer NEXCON printers for sale is also helping us give clients an opportunity to trial concrete 3D printing by renting and recognizing the savings before deciding if they purchase or just continue to rent.”
Calling for concrete 3D printing clarity
后的利益公平、评论家isms leveled at the Heriot-Watt paper, 3D Printing Industry also reached out to one of the study’s authors Mustafa Batikha to get a response. While Batikha reiterated that there remains the potential for “big profits” in construction 3D printing since so few companies “can implement the technology,” he said the industry needs to be more open to realize them.
特别是，研究人员强调了行业公司如何在其印刷过程中“保密一些东西”，包括所使用的材料的组成，同时停止拍摄某些构建的图片。为了帮助该技术的标准化，这是学术界重大研究的主题，因此Batikha呼吁进行进一步的比较研究。
Batikha总结道：“如今，由于在低时间和成本之内产生弯曲和良好形状的力量，该技术在非结构性美学元素中使用了更多。”“技术的未来在于建设[建筑]。但是，在没有3DCP的设计标准的情况下，当局尚未同意进行建筑物，这就是学术界目前正在努力的工作。”
研究人员的发现在其论文中详细介绍了“3D Concrete Printing for Sustainable & Affordable Housing Construction-Comparative Study，，，，” which was co-authored by Mustafa Batikha and Moiz Ul Fazal.
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Featured image shows COBOD’s BOD2 3D printer in the process of creating the “world’s first” 3D printed home extension. Photo via PERI AG.
