WP1 – Study of existing solutions – State of the art analysis
Its duration is 4 months and aims at defining the design specifications of the systems for the final layout. In the context of WP1, research into existing 3D printing technology solutions will be carried out in the construction sector (industrial or laboratory level) and their assessment with structural and functional parameters. Through research of the realized projects, conclusions will be drawn regarding the produced buildings and the expected results will be put forward. The aim of the above study is to identify the technologies that can be used and to give a comparative advantage to the layout over the existing ones.
WP2 – Design and development of appropriate mortars for 3D printing
It duration is 16 months and aims at the design and development of mortars for 3D printing. For this purpose, the necessary parameters for the mortar should be identified. These concern the time of preparation and setting of the mortar, its consistency, the mixing of its components, the achievement of the desired strength of the concrete and the interlayer coherence, considering that the printing is done in layers.
WP3 – Design, analysis and programming of 3D printer
Its duration is 22 months and aims at analyzing and designing a final full-scale and a half-scale layout for preliminary experiments. Therefore, the analysis and design of the print head and body of the device will be carried out by selecting the appropriate design parameters and selecting the print head movement control system with parameters such as speed and accuracy of its movements. Also, an appropriate control unit and user-to-machine communication software will be built along the CAD and CAM software standards.
WP4 – Manufacture of prototype, full and half scale 3D printer
Its duration is 24 months and aims at the construction of full and half-scale prototype 3D printers, ensuring their manufacturing integrity and accuracy. The tasks of WP4 are purely constructional and include the manufacture of the print head and the body of the full and half-scale device, the assurance of the manufacturing precision of the individual pieces, the assembly of the layouts and the experimental verification of their correct operation.
WP5 – Construction of specimens (full and half-scale)
Its duration is 18 months and aims to build appropriate specimens for the layout to carry out the necessary experiments and to prove the correct operation of the device. Their appropriate size will be determined in order to carry out experiments that will verify the operation of the device. Indicative specimen size of 8 x 8 x 3 m.
