The number of extrusion-based 3D Concrete Printing (3DCP) applications has increased rapidly over the past few years. This indicates an industrial strive to explore new construction methods, aiming at boosting productivity and obtaining new architectural designs; thus, shifting building methods into a manufacturing process. To enable that, it is necessary to create a seamless link between design, materials, and processes in construction. This calls for research on material development, process monitoring, and material characterisation methods. To address such need, while generating new knowledge to the construction industry, the Danish Technological Institute – in collaboration with key players from the Danish construction industry – started the project “Next Generation 3D-printed Concrete Structures” (N3XTCON).
The N3XTCON project aims at developing technologies that bring 3D Concrete Printing (3DCP) to an industrial scale – with a clear focus on sustainability and new architectural designs. Its scope includes both on-site and prefabrication applications based on extrusion-based 3DCP, including the production of large-scale reinforced concrete structures as well as residential buildings. The is funded by the Innovation Fund Denmark and runs until 2022.