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posted by martyb on Friday August 21 2020, @04:03PM   Printer-friendly

3-D printing 'greener' buildings using local soil:

The construction industry is currently facing two major challenges: the demand for sustainable infrastructure and the need to repair deteriorating buildings, bridges and roads. While concrete is the material of choice for many construction projects, it has a large carbon footprint, resulting in high waste and energy expenditure. Today, researchers report progress toward a sustainable building material made from local soil, using a 3-D printer to create a load-bearing structure.

[...] The researchers began by collecting soil samples from a colleague's backyard and tailoring the material with a new environmentally friendly additive so that it would bind together and be easily extruded through the 3-D printer. Because soils vary greatly by location, their aim was to have a chemistry "toolkit" that could transform any type of soil into printable building material. From there Bajpayee built small-scale test structures, cubes measuring two inches on each side, to see how the material performed when extruded into stacked layers.

The next step was to ensure that the mixture is load bearing, meaning that it will stand up to the weight of the layers but also other materials used in construction such as rebar and insulation. To help with this, the researchers strengthened the clay mixture by "zippering" the microscopic layers on its surface to prevent it from absorbing water and expanding, which would compromise the printed structure. With this method, the researchers showed that the material could hold twice as much weight as the unmodified clay mixture.

Journal Reference:
Aayushi Bajpayee, Mehdi Farahbakhsh, Umme Zakira, et al. In situ Resource Utilization and Reconfiguration of Soils Into Construction Materials for the Additive Manufacturing of Buildings, frontiers in materials (2020) 7:52. DOI: 10.3389/fmats.2020.00052

The approach is thought to both lower the environmental footprint of construction on Earth and model how construction can be effected on the Moon or Mars.


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  • (Score: 2) by looorg on Friday August 21 2020, @04:19PM (9 children)

    by looorg (578) on Friday August 21 2020, @04:19PM (#1039960)

    While interesting I'm not sure a 3D printed "soil" house would pass building inspection and standards here. I'm not saying that they never will but the code if fairly strict and you just can't put up any old shack if you expect humans to live in it. Also how is the longevity of the structure as far as maintenance and so goes?

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  • (Score: 4, Informative) by c0lo on Friday August 21 2020, @04:48PM (3 children)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 21 2020, @04:48PM (#1039967) Journal

    This [wikipedia.org] is what [atlasobscura.com] one (or many) [iranparadise.com] can [wikipedia.org] build [rammedearthworks.com] from mud [wikipedia.org]

    Also how is the longevity of the structure as far as maintenance and so goes?

    Protect it from water and you'll be fine for centuries.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 2) by looorg on Friday August 21 2020, @07:23PM (1 child)

      by looorg (578) on Friday August 21 2020, @07:23PM (#1040052)

      Easier said then done if you are at the top of the world and at least half the year has snow and rain. At least there is plenty of wood and stone.

      • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday August 21 2020, @07:34PM

        by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 21 2020, @07:34PM (#1040058) Journal

        Easier said then done if you are at the top of the world and at least half the year has snow and rain.

        For now. Until the AGW takes over, that is (very large grin)

        Did I suggested you to build one underwater?

        Easier said then done...

        Actually it is easy to do it, just use just a tad wider roofs and paint the walls in oil paint.
        My grandparents' house was build from the mud bricks on top of a thin concrete foundation. It was better thermally insulated than all the apartments I lived in until now.

        --
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Saturday August 22 2020, @12:43AM

      by Phoenix666 (552) on Saturday August 22 2020, @12:43AM (#1040196) Journal

      Rammed earth was used successfully in China for thousands of years. Done right, it winds up with the strength and consistency of concrete. I did a quick search and saw this paper [wvu.edu], but with a little more time much more could be found.

      --
      Washington DC delenda est.
  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by DannyB on Friday August 21 2020, @04:51PM (1 child)

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 21 2020, @04:51PM (#1039969) Journal

    Building codes can be changed.

    Those 99% people [wikimedia.org] are going to have to adapt to life in cheaper buildings.

    Because maintenance is expensive, the buildings will be maintenance free. Accomplished by the stroke or a pen. Or a tweet.

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
  • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Friday August 21 2020, @11:29PM (1 child)

    by Thexalon (636) on Friday August 21 2020, @11:29PM (#1040158)

    I have a buddy who builds mud buildings for a living, and while there are efforts to make that sort of construction up to code, right now most of the buildings he does in the US at least have to be agricultural buildings on paper if not in fact, because buildings that are considered agricultural in purpose have basically no building standards at all.

    His stuff's still standing though, and it's incredibly easy to repair if it does get damaged. I've been in a few of them, and they're reasonably comfortable and fairly well-insulated.

    --
    The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
    • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Saturday August 22 2020, @12:44AM

      by Phoenix666 (552) on Saturday August 22 2020, @12:44AM (#1040199) Journal

      Rammed earth buildings are quite attractive, too.

      --
      Washington DC delenda est.
  • (Score: 2) by ChrisMaple on Saturday August 22 2020, @01:55AM

    by ChrisMaple (6964) on Saturday August 22 2020, @01:55AM (#1040227)

    I've read that Frank Lloyd Wright's insistence on using local materials has caused some of his buildings to degrade prematurely. Impurities in local sand used for concrete, if I recall correctly.