Design and Implementation of Highly Robust Gantry-Type and Low-Cost 3D Concrete Printer for Construction

The advances of additive manufacturing by a 3D printing method such as complex geometry building, time-consuming, worker labor, and materials cost, support this new type of construction method to become promising for future applications.This study presents the development of a customized and large-size concrete 3D printer with low cost, ease of operation, and scalable design.The 3D printer gantry-type structure was designed with a dimension of 2,580 x 3,600 x 2,800 (mm) and driven by high-precision AC motors in three independent X, Y, and Z axes.A customized feeding-extrusion system was designed for either automatic or manual material feeding continuously and automatically.The low-cost concrete mixture was used with the use of by-products from a local thermal power plant which allows to reduce the material cost.After a number of experimental trials, an optimized set of parameters has been established such that a printing cycle of 25 layers was printed consecutively at a single run.Several concrete-based construction patterns have been printed and applied in practice.The results can be applied in many aspects of civil construction and produce affordable buildings worldwide.