b'TECHNOLOGYFIBONACCI DEMONSTRATION HOME CONSTRUCTED USING 3D TECHNOLOGY3D PARK FURNITURE A 3D RETAINING WALLcan do a whole prefab superstructure:called Grasshopper thats used toaccelerated concrete hardens. It has the build in factory, ship it, install it andgenerate the robots code, says Iansame properties as poured concrete, walk away. We also teach people how toComishin, president of Twente Additiveexcept that any inclusions must be install. One of the biggest advantages ofManufacturing Inc. (aka TAM), a company10mm or smaller in order to maintain a this technology, adds Mann, is that itswith head offices in the Netherlandssmooth flow in the hose.almost error-proof. and printing labs in Germany, Dubai, Montreal and Nelson, B.C. TAM hasAlso, rebar cannot be built into the But perhaps the most excitingbecome famous as the builder of thewet concrete as it can with the poured application of 3D printing in constructionFibonacci House, a demonstration homeproduct; instead, cavities are printed is with concrete. Almost any structurein the Kootenay Lake Village projectand rebar is inserted later. Thus, while that can be built from pouredat Procter Point near Nelson built toits compressive properties are the same, concretefoundations, bridges,show off the innovative potential of 3Dits tensile strength is comparable to street or park furniture, to name aconcrete printing. cinderblock, Comishin says. Building fewcan be programmed into a 3Dcodes are just beginning to catch up with printer and built layer by layer. Once the code is programmed into thethe technology.robotic printer, a pump pushes liquid Like plastic printing, we start with aconcrete through a hose on a movingDepending on the design, the robotic 3D model and run it through a slicingarm like toothpaste from a giant tube.arm may pause between layers. You system with a digital coding appAs soon as it is deposited, the highlyneed a certain amount of curing time, BUILDERSDIGEST Quarter 3 202133'