Chinese Company 3-D Prints 5-Story Apartment Building

Chinese Company 3-D Prints 5-Story Apartment Building
SUZHOU, China—Chinese high-tech construction company WinSun has completed a five-story apartment complex and an 11,840 ft² (1100 m²) villa at the Suzhou Industrial Park. The company’s 3-D printer array stands 20 ft (6 m) tall and is 33 ft by 132 ft (10 m by 40 m) wide. The materials used by the printer consist of ground industrial waste, along with a cement that is mixed with a hardening agent. The individual parts needed for the buildings are made in large chunks at WinSun’s base. To meet standard building codes, the structures are fortified by steel reinforcements and wall insulation. The company uses a Computer Aided Design (CAD) template, and a mechanical extruder arm lays down the concrete mix that is then treated with the hardening agent. Each individual piece of the structure is joined together at the construction site. Previously, WinSun drew attention for using its 3-D printer to construct 10 full-sized houses in a single day. The company aims to eventually use its technology on larger projects, such as skyscrapers and bridges.