3D printers started small, but now companies are printing entire homes – and a Chinese company just created an entire mansion in 45 days! Beijing-based HuaShang Tengda printed a two story villa that measures about 4,305 square feet – and they say it’s durable enough to withstand an earthquake measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale.
HuaShang Tenda is not the first company to claime they’ve 3D-printed a house. But they might be the first to have 3D-printed the entire thing at once, rather than printing and then assembling pieces. First the company erected the home’s frame, including plumbing pipes. Then they used a huge 3D printer they’ve been developing for many years to construct the house. They controlled the process via a computer program. The software includes four systems: one for “electronic ingredient formulating,” one for mixing the concrete, one for transmission, and the last to 3D-print the structure.
The ambitious company printed the house using 20 tons of strong but inexpensive concrete, although they say that any type of cement could be utilized in their process. The walls are up to eight feet thick, and once they were printed workers painted and decorated the house. According to HuaShang Tenda, “[This technology] will have immeasurable social benefits…because of its speed, low cost, simple and environmentally friendly raw materials, [it can] generally improve the quality of people’s lives.”
Related: Chinese company ‘builds’ 3D-printed villa in less than 3 hours
The company envisions their technology being used to build everything from homes for farmers in rural areas to high-rise buildings to houses in developing countries. They believe the new technology could spark a revolution in the housing industry as their 3D-printed homes can be built faster, and for less money than traditional dwellings.
+ HuaShang Tengda
Via 3Dprint.com
Images via HuaShang Tenda
