3DFORMWORKS
Total project budget: €2.7 million
ERDF budget: €1.6 million
Duration: 48 months
The new industrial revolution, which combines robotisation, digitalisation of processes, artificial intelligence, augmented reality and Big Data, is profoundly changing the image of factory and site work in many sectors. The construction industry is no exception, with the emergence of 3D concrete printing.
This additive manufacturing technology applied to these materials offers new perspectives in terms of the design of parts or buildings, while helping to lower production costs, particularly through the speed of the manufacturing process. From an ecological point of view, it reduces waste on site by eliminating the need for moulds and casts. The adoption of this technology in this field would increase the competitiveness of companies in the sector.
Background to the project
In the Interreg France-Wallonie-Vlaanderen (FWVL) cross-border area, the industrial fabric of the construction sector in the broadest sense of the term, i.e. both in the building and public works (BTP) sector and in specialised construction such as works in refractory materials, consists mainly of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). To remain competitive, these companies focus on a strategy of lowering production costs rather than on a strategy of innovation and diversification of their production. This is due to a fear of taking risks by investing in innovation, but also to a lack of human and financial resources.
In the field of 3D concrete printing, innovation projects encompassing the development of cementitious ink formulations, characterisation methods and the production of 3D demonstrators to replace conventionally produced elements would help these SMEs to minimise the risks associated with their investment in this type of innovation.
This is the background to the 3DFORMWORKS project. It targets the production of complex-shaped parts in the construction and refractory sectors using 3D printing technology to design the external shape of the part by creating a ‘permanent formwork’ in cementitious ink. This will then be filled with traditional concrete (construction or refractory).
Project challenges
This production method would be an alternative to the conventional moulding technique. Production costs would be lowered and productivity increased. In addition, the 3DFORMWORKS project also aims to formulate ‘low-carbon’ cementitious inks using alternative materials. This will contribute to the decarbonisation of these SMEs by offering products that are more environmentally virtuous, while at the same time reducing site waste. The project is also focusing on optimising the 3D printing process for cementitious inks by identifying the optimum machine parameters depending on the degree of complexity of the part and the external conditions. The study of the stability of structures during printing using digital simulation is also part of the 3DFORMWORKS research programme.
As the project makes technical progress, interactive workshops and thematic seminars will be organised for companies in the FWVL Interreg zone, with the aim of encouraging the transfer of knowledge and skills from the world of research to that of industry. Demonstration pieces and/or case studies will also be produced.
To meet the expectations of the project, the INISMa and BUILDWISE centres in Belgium and the IMT Nord Europe, CRIStAL and LaMé university laboratories in France have decided to work in synergy to take advantage of their expertise and complementarity in 3D concrete printing technology.
The TEAM2 competitiveness cluster (FR) will assist these research bodies in disseminating and promoting the work resulting from the project to the target industry, with the help of the GREENWIN and MECATECH competitiveness clusters (BE), the FEREDECO federation (BE), ULiège (BE), CERIB (technical transfer centre, FR) as well as the Green Concrete Group in Belgium (GBV, BE) and the Provincial Development Agency for West Flanders in Belgium (POM West-Vlaaderen).
Project objectives
The aim of this project is to support companies in the construction and refractory materials sector in their process of technological change by mitigating the risks they could take by investing in these new production technologies and the development of new materials. Secondly, it aims to strengthen innovation capacity in this field and in the cooperation area by bringing together centres of excellence in 3D concrete printing.