AM Expo

Additive Manufacturing Expo, Lucerne

Complex Architectural Elements

Binder jet 3D-printing offers the potential to produce any imaginable form with no or only minimal geometrical restrictions/constraints. The used material (sand) however is structurally very weak.

Ultra-high performant, fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) can resist very strong compressive and tension forces. In order to create complex architectural elements however, very complex formworks have to be built. Our idea is therefore to combine the advantages of 3D-printing and UHPC. We print a thin shell of sandstone as a stay-in-place formwork. This is then used to cast concrete and combine the two materials to new composite components. This method allows for the production of very complex parts that would not or only hardly be possible with more conventional manufacturing processes.