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Innovative Manufacturing Technologies in Architecture and Structural Engineering

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A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Building Materials, and Repair & Renovation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 March 2023) | Viewed by 17291

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Michele Palermo

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Guest Editor

Department of Civil, Chemical and Environmental Engineering DICAM, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy
Interests: earthquake engineering; structural design of buildings with added dampers; structural health monitoring; metal additive manufacturing

Prof. Dr. Norman Hack

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Co-Guest Editor

Institute of Structural Design, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, Germany
Interests: computational architectural design; digital construction; additive manufacturing

Dr. Roberto Naboni

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Co-Guest Editor

CREATE - University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
Interests: computational design & digital fabrication

Dr. C. Goulas

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Co-Guest Editor

1. Department of Design, Production, and Management, Faculty of Engineering Technology, University of Twente, Horst Complex Postbus 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands
2. RAMLAB BV, Scheepsbouwweg 8, 3089 JW Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Interests: large-scale Additive Manufacturing (AM); design for AM; metals and multi-material combinations in AM

Dr. Vittoria Laghi

E-Mail Website
Co-Guest Editor

Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental and Materials Engineering, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
Interests: seismic design; dissipative devices; steel structures; additive manufacturing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Innovative manufacturing technologies, such as additive manufacturing (AM), are today quickly surfacing within several sectors (such as automotive, aerospace and biomedical engineering) owing to the potentially limitless capabilities in fabricating complex shapes with high precision and speed. Within the construction field, the introduction of free form design (FFD) has fostered the diffusion of new and complex shapes in architecture, readily available owing to the use of computer simulations. However, despite the huge enhancements provided by computer aided engineering (CAE) in the last few decades, the construction process technologies have lagged behind. In this context, the Master Engineer Peter S. Jörg Schlaich pointed that “…as any new tool (referring to FFD),...(omissis)… the risks are that too free and even incompetent or irresponsible use is made of this new tool…“.

As such, new synergies and integration between advanced manufacturing technologies, structural engineering, material science, and architecture are needed for advancements toward fully the automatized design and fabrication of building constructs and architectures.

To address the scope and to provide a well-documented reference in this field, authors are welcome to submit their recent research results to this Special Issue. The suitable article themes include, but are not limited to, the following:

Additive manufacturing for large-scale structures;
Innovative, advanced manufacturing;
Theories, techniques, and methods of robotic fabrication;
Metal additive manufacturing;
3D-printed concrete;
Automatized constructions;
Multi-material building components;
Large-scale digital fabrication;
Advanced modelling methods;
Design-to-production (D2P) strategies;
Constitutive models for additively manufactured materials;
Computational design tools;
AM material testing;
Mechanical properties of AM materials.

Dr. Michele Palermo
Guest Editor

Prof. Dr. Norman Hack
Dr. Roberto Naboni
Dr. C. Goulas
Dr. Vittoria Laghi
Co-Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Buildings is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

additive manufacturing
digital fabrication
metal additive manufacturing
3D-printed concrete
multi-material additive manufacturing
advanced modelling
computational design
material models

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 5335 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Design of Structural Steel Components According to Manufacturing Possibilities of the Robot-Guided DED-Arc Process

by Christoph Müller, Johanna Müller, Harald Kloft and Jonas Hensel

Buildings 2022, 12(12), 2154; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12122154 - 7 Dec 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1469

Abstract

Additive manufacturing with the DED-arc process offers limited freedom in terms of the geometric shape of work pieces. The process and fabrication systems restrict the part geometry producible, which must be taken into account during design already. For this reason, a design process was investigated in which geometry generation is based on a self-organizing system. The aim of using a self-organizing system is the possibility to directly control the geometry-defining points. Next to load cases, the design method considers geometric boundary conditions from the production process when generating the geometry. In order to identify these geometrical constraints from production experimentally, a concept of Case Study Demonstrators was applied. This was used to investigate how path planning and production can be carried out for specific geometrical features and to identify restraints of the process and the manufacturing system, e.g., smallest producible wall thickness and overhangs. Subsequently, the obtained restraints were considered as boundary conditions for the design process and were included in the modification of an example geometry. By applying the presented design method, it was possible to maintain a minimum wall thickness throughout the structure while generating a topologically optimized geometry. In contrast to compliance with the minimum wall thickness, no satisfactory behavioral rule could be found for limiting the overhang. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Manufacturing Technologies in Architecture and Structural Engineering)

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11 pages, 5697 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Combined Additive Manufacturing Techniques for Adaptive Coastline Protection Structures

by Robin Dörrie, Vittoria Laghi, Lidiana Arrè, Gabriela Kienbaum, Neira Babovic, Norman Hack and Harald Kloft

Buildings 2022, 12(11), 1806; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12111806 - 27 Oct 2022

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2051

Abstract

Traditional reinforcement cages are manufactured in a handicraft manner and do not use the full potential of the material, nor can they map from optimised geometries. The shown research is focused on robotically-manufactured, structurally-optimised reinforcement structures which are prefabricated and can be encased by concrete through SC3DP in a combined process. Based on the reinforcement concept of “reinforcement supports concrete,” the prefabricated cages support the concrete during application in a combined AM process. To demonstrate the huge potential of combined AM processes based on the SC3DP and WAAM techniques (for example, the manufacturing of individualized CPS), the so-called FLOWall is presented here. First, the form-finding process for the FLOWall concept based on fluid dynamic simulation is explained. For this, a three-step strategy is presented, which consists of (i) the 3D modelling of the element, (ii) the force-flow analysis, and (iii) the structural validation in a computational fluid dynamics software. From the finalized design, the printing phase is divided into two steps, one for the WAAM reinforcement and one for the SC3DP wall. The final result provides a good example of efficient integration of two different printing techniques to create a new generation of freeform coastline protection structures. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Manufacturing Technologies in Architecture and Structural Engineering)

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Graphical abstract

16 pages, 6373 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Development of Connection Technology between Multi-Point Press and Flexible Mold for Manufacturing Free-Form Concrete Panel

by Jiyeong Yun, Jongyoung Youn, Jihye Kim and Donghoon Lee

Buildings 2022, 12(6), 767; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12060767 - 5 Jun 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1807

Abstract

Many studies have been conducted for the accuracy of free-form concrete panel fabrication, but there still are errors in the process of fabrication. This study developed a connection technology of detachable shape part that can be applied to the existing multi-point Computer Numerical Control (CNC) to enhance the accuracy of fabrication. The detachable type can place a silicone plate on top of the rod without additional fixtures. The accuracy of the technology was verified by curvature test and free-form concrete panel fabrication test. Three curves were created to compare the discrepancies between the designed shapes and the fabricated shapes through quality test. As a result, the detachable type decreased the error by up to 2 mm. In addition, a panel was fabricated to analyze the error to verify the rigidity of the developed molds. The error caused by concrete deflection under load or the error caused by repeated fabrication was about 0.5 mm. The shape error was within 3.5 mm. This small error proved greater accuracy compared to the existing technology. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Manufacturing Technologies in Architecture and Structural Engineering)

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10 pages, 7315 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Development of Variable Side Mold for Free-Form Concrete Panel Production

by Jongyoung Youn, Jiyeong Yun, Jihye Kim and Donghoon Lee

Buildings 2022, 12(6), 728; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12060728 - 27 May 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1526

Abstract

With the increase of free-form architecture, many studies have been conducted for producing free-form Concrete Panels (FCP), but there are still areas that are lacking in terms of the technological aspect. In particular, as free-form panels are produced by hand, the precision of the shapes is low and cost and time are high. FCP production equipment was developed to resolve this. In this study, the variable side mold for FCP production used in side control equipment among FCP production equipment was developed. Variable side mold is equipment that satisfies five requirements to configure the form of FCPs. The variable side mold is made with steel plates so that it can withstand the side pressure of concrete. As a result, the material has a uniform thickness throughout and is molded to the desired shape. Therefore, in order to verify this, the panel was manufactured as a variable side mold to compare the side form with the designed form through 3D scanning and quality inspection to check for errors. As a result, there was a 0.276 mm mean difference for both ends of the panel and the central part, and it was therefore verified through t-test that errors occurred within the allowed margin of 95% confidence level. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Manufacturing Technologies in Architecture and Structural Engineering)

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21 pages, 6241 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose Dosage on the Mechanical Properties of 3D Printable Mortars with and without Fiber Reinforcement

by Çağlar Yalçınkaya

Buildings 2022, 12(3), 360; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12030360 - 16 Mar 2022

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3273

Abstract

Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose (HPMC) is one of the most frequently used viscosity modifying admixtures in 3D printable cement-based materials. In this study, the effects of HPMC dosage on the mechanical properties of 3D printable cement-based mortars were investigated. For this purpose, mortar mixtures with and without micro steel fibers containing three different HPMC dosages (0%, 0.15%, and 0.30% by weight of cement) were produced. Reliant on the HPMC dosage, heat flow and cumulative heat curves were obtained. At the end of 7 and 28 days of standard curing, flexural, compressive, and shear bond strengths, as well as flexural toughness, were measured. Additionally, porosity values were obtained on molded, single-layer, and three-layer printed specimens. The results showed that the increase in HPMC dosage prolonged the setting times and decreased the heat release. Moreover, the porosity values increased with an increase in the HPMC dosage and the number of printed layers. All mechanical properties were drastically decreased with the use of HPMC. The decrements were more significant at the first 0.15% HPMC dosage and the shear bond strengths. Prolonging the curing period from 7 to 28 days did not lead to meaningful recovery in the mechanical properties. The negative effects of HPMC on flexural and shear bond performances were more pronounced in fiber-reinforced mortars. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Manufacturing Technologies in Architecture and Structural Engineering)

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11 pages, 3629 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Development of Double-Sided Multipoint Press CNC and Operational Technology for Producing Freeform Molds

by Jiyeong Yun, Jongyoung Youn and Donghoon Lee

Buildings 2021, 11(10), 426; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings11100426 - 22 Sep 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1860

Abstract

Many studies concerning the precision manufacturing of freeform concrete panels have been conducted, however, this process remains labor intensive taking significant amounts of time and cost. In particular, the precision in the shape of the panels produced tends to be low because of the manual work involved in producing the curves of those panels. This study documents the development of mold production technologies that can be used to produce precise curved surfaces on the upper and lower parts of a mold for freeform concrete panels. A double-sided multipoint press CNC (computer numerical control) produces curved upper and lower surfaces of a mold without the need for manual work, while the operational technology we developed to control this tool enhances the precision of the curves created. The precision of these technologies was verified through experiments. The difference between the shapes designed and those produced were found using 3D scans and quality inspections. Unpredictable errors can occur due to the size of certain curvatures, the elasticity of the silicone plate, and the rotational angle of the joints of the rods supporting the surfaces. To minimize errors, shape compensation was carried out through reverse engineering, leading to a maximum error of 2.887 mm, which is within the allowable error. The results achieved in this study are a significant step toward technologies that will produce increasingly precise freeform concrete panels. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Manufacturing Technologies in Architecture and Structural Engineering)

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Review

Jump to: Research

26 pages, 4348 KiB

Open AccessReview

Large-Scale 3D Printing for Construction Application by Means of Robotic Arm and Gantry 3D Printer: A Review

by Anastasia Puzatova, Pshtiwan Shakor, Vittoria Laghi and Maria Dmitrieva

Buildings 2022, 12(11), 2023; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12112023 - 18 Nov 2022

Cited by 29 | Viewed by 10563

Abstract

Additive manufacturing technologies are becoming more popular in various industries, including the construction industry. Currently, construction 3D printing is sufficiently well studied from an academic point of view, leading towards the transition from experimental to mass large-scale construction. Most questions arise about the applicability of construction 3D printers for printing entire buildings and structures. This paper provides an overview of the different types of construction 3D printing technologies currently in use, and their fundamental differences, as well as some significant data on the advantages of using these advanced technologies in construction. A description of the requirements for composite printing is also provided, with possible issues that may arise when switching from lab-scale construction printing to mass large-scale printing. All printers using additive manufacturing technologies for construction are divided into three types: robotic arm printers, portal-type printers, and gantry 3D printers. It is noted that gantry printers are more suitable for large-scale printing since some of their configurations have the ability to construct buildings that are practically unlimited in size. In addition, all printers are not capable of printing with concrete containing a coarse aggregate, which is a necessary requirement in terms of the strength and economic feasibility of 3D printing material for large-scale applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Manufacturing Technologies in Architecture and Structural Engineering)

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