
3-D printing offers new approach to making buildings - phr4ts
http://news.mit.edu/2017/3-d-printing-buildings-0426
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trendia
Apis Cor seems to have a more complete prototype:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xktwDfasPGQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xktwDfasPGQ)

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phr4ts
MIT's 3D-Printing Robot constructed a 50-foot-diameter, 12-foot-high dome in
14 Hours

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louithethrid
Could you use a combination of powerline supplied drones to give the "printing
head" greater independence?

Basically a Zeppelin setup, carrying the basic load, with a drone on a pipe
controlling the precise placement?

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13of40
I've always wondered what replaces to rebar in things like this. Does the
flexibility in shape allow them to accommodate for that?

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jaclaz
As a side note, and JFYI, in a number of structures (designed for it) rebar
can be partially or totally replaced by steel (or other high strength
material) fibers.

More or less the whole idea of concrete stuctures is to use a composite
material where the steel (rebar) is used for traction (and shear) and the
concrete for compression resistance. (as opposed to other materials such as
wood that has resistance to both traction and compression (besides shear)
forces.

A fiber-reinforced concrete can (as said in some cases) be considered a form
of reinforced (rebar) concrete at a smaller scale and with "fuzzy" (or
"diffused") distribution of the reinforcement.

Domes and similar "thin" structures are very suitable for being made with
fiber reinforced concrete.

