Giant Chinese 3D printer builds 10 houses in just 1 day (PHOTOS, VIDEO) — RT News

Posted by $ rockymountainpirate 11 years ago to Technology
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While the current batch of houses are standalone, one-storey structures, the company hopes its technology will eventually be used to make skyscrapers.


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  • Posted by Hiraghm 11 years ago in reply to this comment.
    I doubt even your house would survive a direct hit from an F4 or F5. But I imagine the odds are extremely long it would get a direct hit from one that powerful, in WI.

    (Amusing side note: last night the weathermen were so anxious to turn the storm into tornadoes, one declared the high winds downtown an "F0")
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  • Posted by Robbie53024 11 years ago in reply to this comment.
    Before I built my house I saw a pic of the aftermath of a tornado (your big bad wolf) that went through a neighborhood. There was one house still standing, and the rest were totally demolished. While it had some roof and siding damage, it was pretty much intact. You probably guessed it by now, it was an ICF house. That's not the reason for me choosing this construction, but it certainly didn't dissuade me. That neighborhood that was destroyed is only about 50 miles south of where I live, so a reasonable possibility of also getting hit.
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  • Posted by jcabello 11 years ago in reply to this comment.
    Awesome, thanks for your detailed reply. I'll definitely look into the ICF possibility. I love the idea of durability, insulation, and thick walls, especially now that we are going to be besieged by tornados, due to climate change ;-}
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  • Posted by $ Commander 11 years ago in reply to this comment.
    I remember this....about 5 years ago I think. Notice the lack of re-bar in the fractured columns? I think I remember a diagram of hydrostatic heave being explanatory of the shear.
    I shall not use Chinese steel in my repairable business either. Had the microscopy done on samples of 1018, 1117, and 1045...granular structure was very inconsistent and loaded with high density pockets of concentrated carbon.....FRACTURE! I repair truck axle housing spindles....the thought of a set of dual wheels hurtling down the highway due to metal failure???....Not on my watch.....
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  • Posted by RobertFl 11 years ago
    Think how fast the FEMA camps could be built across the desert with a few of these machines running 24/7
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  • Posted by Robbie53024 11 years ago in reply to this comment.
    I did a combo of both. I hired a contractor to do the majority of the house - but my son and I did the attached garage portion. We could have done the whole thing but would have been more time than I could devote to it. The 3 1/2 car (and extra deep) garage we did in one weekend of putting up the forms and another day to pour the concrete.

    I built in the spring of 2006, which was after hurricane Katrina down south. Most of the wood building materials were going there, so were higher costs in WI. Overall, the ICF was about the same as 2x6 exterior wall stick frame construction at the time.

    Benefits are that the foam itself has R22 insulation value, and the concrete is a huge heat sink - so takes a long time to heat up in the summer and retains heat quite well in the winter. And it's quiet!

    Downside is that the walls are 10" thick, so your window boxes need to be extra deep (all the major manuf's offer this so not a problem). I also found that how the concrete gets poured (the amount of lift in each pour) matters a lot. My contractor probably had too much height per lift, which caused the bottom to bulge. So the window boxes extended different amounts from bottom to top (I ended up having to trim them by hand as I installed the trim, which was laborious).

    In my area there were only 3 builders who were familiar with ICF - that was back in '06. I'd check your local area for builders and then go see their work. It can go more rapidly than stick framing, so when they say they're working, it won't be for long.

    If you have the time and inclination, you can do it yourself. I'd spend some money to have an experienced contractor come check your work out before you pour - and maybe even do the pour itself as if you have a blowout (a weak spot that pulls apart and leaks cement) you need to have many hands that know what to do quickly.

    I also installed steel trusses for the flooring on 1st and 2nd level which can be directly embedded into the concrete.
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 11 years ago in reply to this comment.
    Yes, these plastics are brittle. I haven't looked at this particular article, but the standard polymers for 3D printing are acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) copolymer or poly(lactic acid). The latter is for applications requiring biocompatibility. I am guessing that they are using ABS. Think Legos. The maximum strain due to temperature differences would be about 0.5%. The strain at the yield stress is 1.5%. This should work with regard to temperature variation, if one neglects humidity effects, which would be significant.
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  • Posted by jcabello 11 years ago in reply to this comment.
    Hello Robbie,
    Could I ask you, did you build your own house or did you use a building company? I might have a house built for me here in Colorado. Is ICF very expensive compared to traditional wood frame? Would you recommend some builder?
    Thanks!
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  • Posted by Temlakos 11 years ago in reply to this comment.
    Plastic might be strong, but I find it brittle, especially when exposed to cycles of heat and cold. How do these houses stand up to that?
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  • Posted by Non_mooching_artist 11 years ago
    Um, I would not want to trust that to stand up under adverse conditions. I just picture what my husband has described to me if buildings in China. The emptiness of a vast number of them. Structural integrity...? Yes, it's a 3-D printer creating it.... Dubious...
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  • Posted by Temlakos 11 years ago
    Additive manufacturing applied to building construction? What will they think of next? Still: I wouldn't trust the structural integrity of such a laminated structure. But it might be just the thing to form a composite piece.
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  • Posted by Robbie53024 11 years ago
    Hmmm, I guess you can call that 3D printing. As a mech eng, I'd like to see some structural data on the materials and how they hold up over time and as subjected to various environmental conditions.

    I think that this type of application could be used for Insulated Concrete Forms construction. I used that in my latest house and the constraints are in what forms are available from the manufacturers, which are usually straight, 90 and 45 deg corners. This would allow the creation of forms that could take any shape. The other issue for ICF is the time of assembling. These sections could be created in much larger modules that would go together much faster. An interesting idea.
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  • Posted by wiggys 11 years ago
    once this machine is brought to the usa we will all be able to live in equal houses, ain't that great. then the guy in the oval office will be very happy that we are all equal.
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  • Posted by $ Commander 11 years ago
    I want to see the test data from 5, 6, and 7 magnitude quakes....especially the longitudinal data. Love a good idea.....always very conservative on the possibility of hurting folks. I worked on production of earthquake-proofing apparatus in the early 90's.....the parameters for safety are astounding. Love the idea for certain applications.
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