Civil Engineering | Supercharg3d

U.S. Marines conduct first concrete 3D printing operations

Teams from the Marine Corps Systems Command (MCSC) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), have conducted the first 3D concrete printing operation at the Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) in Champaign, Illinois.

Marines from 7th Engineer Support Battalion along with engineers from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Construction Engineering Research Laboratory pose with a concrete bunker during a 3D concrete printing exercise. Photo via U.S. Marines/Staff Sgt. Michael Smith, 7th ESB.

In doing so, the teams, which also includes the 7th Engineer Support Battalion (ESB), tested a new continuous mixer and a three-inch print nozzle to additively manufacture multiple structures, such as barracks and a bridge.

“This is really the first time we’ve ever printed something large with this system. It is experimental right now and we are trying to push the technology forward,” stated Megan Kreiger, project lead for the Automated Construction of Expeditionary Structures (ACES) at CERL.

Modular 3D printer builds sustainable houses using locally-sourced materials

Some companies that make 3D printersstick to desktop-sized units. WASP is not one of them. They do it all, from filament-fed units to giant machines that print whole buildings.

In 2015, WASP introduced the 40-foot tall BigDelta. They used it to print a basically zero-cost adobe home in about three days.

Last week they unveiled the newest addition to their lineup. It’s called the Crane WASP and it can print much larger and more complex structures.