Emerging Technology: 3D Printing
Industry: Construction and Infrastructure
Introduction:
While doing our second
assignment, we learned that the 3D printing industry is likely on the verge of
revolutionizing the way that we get things into Space. This is because the
technology can now bypass the enormous supply chain involved in getting objects
to the International Space Station.
Well,
3D printing is also primed and ready to revolutionize the way that we do
business here on our planet. The
construction industry, whether it is building houses, roads, bridges, tunnels,
or communication towers, generally requires a huge amount of materials from
many places around the world. For example, think of what materials go into a regular,
modern, detached house in the United States (or most places). There is rebar (or something that adds to the structure), concrete, PVC
pipes, electrical wiring and devices, plastic pieces such as light switches,
window frames, flooring, insulation, roofing materials, and more. Globalization
has made it possible for a house in the United States to be built with wood
from Canada, cement from Mexico, steel from China, marble from Italy, and light
fixtures from France. Building products may be manufactured all over the
country, or even the world, and then through a huge supply network they end up
at the building site to be assembled by a small team of workers.
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| American Dream?? |
Thesis:
The advent of 3D
printing and the exponential improvements in the technology around it has made
it fathomable that all of the special materials named above will be able to be
replicated or eliminated in the not-too-distant future, thus changing the way
that we think of construction. Furthermore, with regards to innovation in
general, I will attempt to show with examples in the construction industry that
it is likely that 3D printing is going to disrupt or displace a tremendous
amount of industries and products.
Impact
of Globalization:
In
the past century or so, global supply networks have enabled a completely new
way of thinking about how what products are possible and how existing products
were made. The world’s entire economy changed once it became possible to source
products from nearly every country on Earth. Additionally, the Industrial
Revolution made possible the mass production of complex objects, and the
postwar era of aviation accelerated the movement of products to levels previously
unheard of. It was only once global supply chains were established and long
distance airplanes were used that a Canadian could eat a dinner that comprised
of all fresh ingredients, including chicken from the United States, olives from
Italy, lettuce from Mexico, and avocados from Ecuador (Diamandis & Kotler,
2012). The global nature of most industries now is considered a given. We take
for granted that our grocery stores are filled to the brim with products that
just a century ago could never possibly have been there.
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| Globalization Salad |
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| Globalization Supermarket |
Construction
industries all over the world have been affected by globalization, too. As
mentioned above, before global networks were established and transportation was
facilitated, a house build with products sourced from basically anywhere
outside of your immediate surrounding area was reserved for only the wealthiest
people in the world. But globalization changed all of that.
Nowadays,
globalization has an even more evolved meaning than just supply chains. With
the Internet now being ubiquitous and engineering hobbyists all over the world
being connected in real-time, entire new industries have been democratized.
What this means is that technology and information is now in the hands of some
of the world’s most unlikely participants. This is accelerating the speed of
innovation and even the way that innovation is done. Almost gone are the days
in which only the luckiest and most specialized of people get to invent parts
for the ISS, or create enormous companies, or participate in the conversations
of where technology is going.
Construction
Industry in a Globalized World:
Not too
long ago, it was relatively rare to see a construction project that used
materials from places all over the world. While materials and parts of famous
buildings may have been shipped in from tremendous distances– think here of the
Pyramids of Giza– most construction projects would have been limited to local
resources.
Globalization
and international shipping changed this in a huge way. As mentioned above, many
construction projects in the past century have been designed with globally
sourced products in mind. Specialty items needed for structures and to satisfy
certain tastes have needed to come from all over, and this has been become
relatively easy to achieve.
Development
of 3D Printed Housing:
3D
printing was developed in the 1980s, but stagnated for many years in its
development due to patent issues and technological limitations. Now, though, 3D
printing appears to be on an exponential growth curve (3Dprinting.com, 2013)
meaning that the technology will likely start to be able to do things in just a
few years that we cannot even fathom today. It was not long ago that we
couldn’t 3D print almost anything of use, but today there are developments that
are making it appear that it will be possible to print functioning human organs
in the near future.
The
Chinese company WinSun is taking on the challenge of 3D printing houses, and in
March of 2014, the company 3D printed 10 full sized houses in 24 hours (3ders,
2015). Their construction materials consisted of a mixture of a mixture of
“recycled construction waste, glass fiber, steel, cement, and special
additives” (Kira, 2015). This is to say that not only has the company been
innovating in how construction is
done, but also what it is done with.
The WinSun Company holds several material patents for their 3D printers,
meaning not only that they are innovating at a tremendous rate, but also that
they are reinventing what is possible to do in the realm of 3D printers.
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| 3D Printed House in China |
Impact
of Globalization in 3D Printed Houses:
Globalization
has played a huge role in the development of 3D printing, primarily due to how
the technology has been democratized. In the 1980s when the technology was
locked up in patents, it was difficult to innovate around potential of 3D printing
because it carried with it huge risk and technology development periods. Today,
however, things are different. Now that the world is exposed to 3D printing in
a widespread way, there are innovators in basements and garages all over the
world. As such, the technology has hopped onto an exponential growth curve that
has allowed it to develop a wide variety of products.
This
is basically what has happened with WinSun, and is happening all over the world
right now. Only a in the last few decades, 3D printing went from non-existent,
to printing small plastic pieces, to now printing materials that are compounds
of what would otherwise be waste. There is a 3D printer in space on the ISS,
and there are 3D printers on the desks of techy teens all across the world. New
products and ways of developing are coming into focus, including highly
specialized items such as human organs and artificial teeth. This means that,
due to globalization, 3D printing innovation is taking place in all sorts of
places that were before unthinkable.
3D
printed housing is not only being developed in China. There are several
technological institutes around the globe working on similar projects (Chalcraft,
2013). Many of them are still quite tight-lipped about their respective
technologies and printing processes, but once these projects are finalized in
their capacities to build, the world will have a very clear picture of what is
being done. Once these 3D printers for houses and buildings are put up for sale
to construction companies, the development of such a technology will only
further expand.
As
we’ve seen, the impact of globalization on the construction industry prior to
3D printing was that materials could come from all over the world. Now, once 3D
printing becomes more widespread and a wider range of materials are able to be
printed in much higher qualities, the way that houses are designed will once
again shift. Globalization, therefore, in this case, has globalized the
information rather than the access to materials. In the future, it may not be
of one’s taste to have US$300,000 worth Italian marble. Rather, it may become
the norm to want to have a house that is built out of eco-friendly, locally
sourced materials, that has superior insulation and has a creative shape, such
as a Mobius strip themed home (see image below).
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| Mobius Strip Home Concept |
Conclusion:
3D printing is
changing the face of innovation, as it has the potential to disrupt nearly
every industry that deals with physical goods. The construction industry is one
that is likely going to change drastically in the next 50 years. Due to the
development of new materials and new construction processes, the world’s supply
chain for construction materials may shift from shipping rare or expensive
materials such as granite or marble, to shipping recycled materials that can be
fed into a 3D printer.
The house
construction market is still underdeveloped and has yet to start selling any 3D
printed homes. However, an offshoot of 3D printing is already in widespread use
that is changing the way that another ubiquitous product is made: airplanes.
Prior to the new Airbus 350XWB, airplane wings were built out of several pieces
of metal that were riveted together. This added weight and potential breaking
points where the pieces of metal meet. Now, though, the A350’s wings are built
in an additive process involving layers of tape that are later cured to harden.
This revolutionary additive process has reduced the weight of the wings, thus
increasing the efficiency of the airplane, while making it stronger. While this
is not technically 3D printing, it is a similar process that is already
changing the way that airplanes are made.
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| A350 Wing |
I believe that
it is now only a matter of time– and not too much time– before the construction
industry for houses, buildings, roadways, and bridges, is revolutionized and
modernized, leaving behind the old
ways of doing business where we ship fully built materials rather than building
them to specifications on site.
References:
3DPrinting.com. 2014. History. Retrieved
from http://3dprintingindustry.com/3d-printing-basics-free-beginners-guide/history/.
Accessed 16 April 2015.
Chalcraft, E. (2013, May 21). 3D printing
architecture. Dezeen Magazine.
Retrieved from http://www.dezeen.com/2013/05/21/3d-printing-architecture-print-shift/.
Accesed 17 April 2015.
Kira. 2015. Retrieved from http://www.3ders.org/articles/20150118-winsun-builds-world-first-3d-printed-villa-and-tallest-3d-printed-building-in-china.html.
Accessed 16 April 2015.
P. H. Diamandis, & S. Kotler. 2014. Abundance: The future is better than you
think. New York, NY: Free Press.
