Preliminary Research and Documentation
The following research and documentation is meant to get this project started. Please consider this a work in progress. Significant work is needed to move this project forward.
Concrete as a 3D Print Material
The following
Figure 5 - 3D printing a concrete wall.
Extruder rails
Extruder rails are rails that move vertically and horizontally depending on the values computed by the application software. The vertical movement allows them to be placed above and below the child base plates depending on the 3D model. The horizontal movement allows them to print the 3D model. These rails are controlled from the application software and operate on connected motors, similar to the base plates.
Figure 6 - Extruder rails
3D Printer Extruder
The 3D printer extruder is fitted to the extruder rails and can move horizontally while printing. The print medium is fed to the extruder from tubes connected to the chassis. Each extruder may have different properties depending on the print material. Here are a few examples of 3D extruders and print material.
Print material | Extruder and Description |
Plastic and polycarbonate | Standard 3D extruder that is currently used in regular 3 printers. The extruder has an option of controlling the aperture and flow of material depending on the object. For example, consider printing a rod and a pipe that have a diameter of 2 inches and a pipe. The same extruder's must be capable of adjusting the size and shape of the printed object. |
Clay and concrete |
An extruder for clay of concrete is different from the usual printer. A construction 3D printer extruder is used for these. An example application of this extruder is building walls and platforms. When constructing a wall with spaces for doors and windows the software application must program 2 base plates. For more information, see this video.
|
Calcium carbonate |
Similar to the extruder for clay and concrete, the extruder for calcium carbonate can print minute details based on the 3D design. This extruder will be mostly used to print coral reefs. For more information, see this video. |
Other | TBD |
The following image is an illustration of a sample extruder.