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It will take years to 3D print skyscrapers, says expert

Dubai - Technology still unsafe to develop such models, says UAE-based Dr Andy Davids.

Though 3D technology has brought radical changes in design and modelling processes of skyscrapers, it will take years for the world to 3D print massive structures, according to a pioneer in super tall building construction.
The UAE-based Dr Andy Davids is best known for his role as a chief engineer in constructing the three iconic structures in the UAE - 830m tall Burj Khalifa, 355m Emirates Towers in Dubai and the 292m Sun Sky Tower in Abu Dhabi.
In an interview with Khaleej Times, Davids who is currently the Building Director for Aurecon Group, said: "3D-printing has completely revolutionised modelling, making scale models. Previously they were made by hand. Models with flat surfaces or square, rectangular, cubic shapes were quite easy to make, but things with a curved shape or a unique geometry would be very difficult.

"For example take an apple.to try make a model of an apple would be difficult previously. Now what you do is, just make a digital model of the apple, the surface and shape of it, and digitally slice it into very thin slices, which can then be used as the templates to feed into the 3D-printer.you aren't limited by the shape."
Davids noted that this "rapid prototyping" allows clients in places such as Dubai to gain a better understanding of uniquely-shaped buildings before construction even begins.
"If you can make a 3-dimensional real model of a building in a couple of hours, you can put it on a client's desk and suddenly they understand what it is," he said.
"It's an extremely powerful way to present something to a client. Even if it's quite a rough model, it's much more powerful than a digital thing on-screen."
In June, the UAE National Innovations Committee unveiled plans to build the world's first 3D-printed office building, which will use a 20-foot tall 3D-printing machine to build all the structural components, interior furniture and detailing.
Davids, however, noted the technology is still unable to safely build the various components that are required to successfully build massive structures.
"To try scale it to something that's useful on-site will come down to what sort of material you can actually squirt through the nozzle (of a 3D-printer)," he added.
"You'd need to develop a special material that has strength and capacity to be able to carry the loads put on it to make it useful."
"I'm sure that one day some materials will be developed," he said.
"But I think at the moment people are using 3D-printing as a novel kind of experiment to see how it all goes. But the material is the thing that is going to have to be developed."
Dr Davids added that he could foresee large-scale 3D-printing of buildings running into problems getting approved by local authorities.
"I think the approval folks are not really familiar with that sort of construction technique and the sort of materials you get, so there's some work to be done there," he said. - bernd@khaleejtimes.com