3D Concrete Printing

3D Concrete Printing (3DCP) provides the potential to increase the productivity and reduce the environmental impact of the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. The 3DCP research group adresses the scientific challenges to develop the technology towards structural applications of 3D printed concrete. 

The 3DCP research group hosted the 2nd RILEM International Conference on Concrete and Digital Fabrication - Digital Concrete 2020, as a full online conference. Take a look at the keynote of prof. Theo Salet, which provides an overview of the research activities and ongoing projects.

Performing high-end research on concrete printing

The goal of the TU/e 3D Concrete Printing (3DCP) research program is to establish concrete printing as a viable new method to manufacture concrete elements and buildings, and to fundamentally understand its processes. The research group operates and develops its own 3D Concrete Printer at the Department of the Built Environment. The printer consists of a four axis gantry robot with a print bed of approximately 9.0x4.5x3 m3, coupled with a concrete mixing pump, both controlled by a numerical controller.

The program is run by the chair of Concrete Structures of the Unit Structural Design, in close collaboration with the chair of Innovative Structural Design and chair of Architectural Design and Engineering. Within the 3DCP program, numerous PhD, MSc and other research projects is being conducted.

The research activities are supported by industrial partners, a number private enterprises covering the whole production chain of concrete for construction. Their contribution and involvement is gratefully acknowledged: Ballast Nedam, BAM, Bekaert, Concrete Valley, CRH, CyBe, M-Tec, SGS Intron, Siemens, Verhoeven Timmerfabriek Nederland, Weber Beamix, Van Wijnen, Witteveen+Bos and stichting SKKB.