3-D Printer Creates Buildings From Dust and Glue

An anonymous reader writes "D-Shape, an innovative new 3-D printer, builds solid structures like sculptures, furniture, even buildings from the ground up. The device relies on sand and magnesium glue to actually build structures layer by layer from solid stone. The designer, Enrico Dini, is even talking with various organizations about making the printer compatible with moon dust, paving the way for an instant moonbase!"

Structural integrity?

[rainmayun]

I know zilch about materials science, but I have to wonder how these structures would hold up as they get large. Will they be like concrete, or like sandstone? or like particle board...

Re:Structural integrity?

[ColdWetDog]

Interestingly, they don't talk about that much. If you're going to build a building out of this stuff and make comparisons to Portland cement, I, for one, would like to see at least a cursory talk on strength.

Re:what can you do without scaffolding?

[wowbagger]

The "scaffolding" is sand that hasn't been sprayed with glue. Imagine making a simple dome. You lay down a layer of sand. You glue the perimeter. The center stays unglued. Let the glue set, lay down another layer of sand, glue the perimeter. Repeat, making the perimeter smaller each time. The walls are supported by the unglued sand in the middle. When you close the top, you open the side, remove the unglued sand, and you have a dome.

This is how most of the stereolitho machines work now, save they use a support material that can be removed with a solvent that doesn't dissolve the plastic used for the parts you want to keep.

Alright, build it already!

[Dr. Spork]

I always thought that we need robots to build a moonbase before we bother sending people up there again. Here's one robot that might help get the job done. Then again, it seems like a major piece of hardware that will be difficult to transport. But the idea of making stone from dust is a good one. Maybe we should half-inflate a giant balloon so its top is dome-shaped, cover it with layers of moon dirt which would be hardened with this magnesium fixative. Once the stone is thick enough, the dome will be self-supporting and a good radiation shield. The whole process might be done by a single remote-controlled backhoe with a spray-nozzle. This is the kind of cool shit that NASA should be doing.

Re:Structural integrity?

[eth1]

I can't see how this would be useful to build buildings with. How is this an advantage over bolting together a few sections of tubular forms for the columns and tossing in some rebar and concrete? Also, you'd still have to build support for the floors just like you would with traditional concrete. Not to mention having to haul and assemble a building-sized printer at the construction site.

Seems like it would be more useful for smaller, more complex items, rather than general construction.