A Review on Application of 3D Printing Principles in Infrastructure Industry and its Impact on Evolution of the Industry

Abstract

As 3D printing emerging to be a much-matured technology, its range of uses are now seemed to be infinite. 3D printing is now beyond the stage where it was only observed as a prototyping solution. From a simple artwork and playing toys to ready to live in buildings and also transplantable organs, the technology could potentially last until our imaginations die. From automobile to consumer goods manufacturing industries, organizations across various industries are trying to observe the advantages 3D printing has got to offer for production. With such acknowledgements, organizations are now trying to find their ways to incorporate this technology in their respective industries, whose applications could potentially extend from tooling to spare/replacement parts and sometimes till a full-fledged end-use ready product. While 3D printing looks like a most exciting new normal for organizations who are planning to streamline their prototyping technology, its prospects for the non-tech consumer world is also evolving rapidly. Additive Manufacturing in construction can be seen as an option that could contribute towards complete automation in the infrastructure industry. The method offers advantages in the aspects of design, sustainability and also efficiency. This work scopes for a comprehensive approach to advance the technology in construction and proposes research potentials, challenges, and future scope. The potential of 3dcp for automation advances all other practices in prospects like exclusion of form work, precise design execution, waste reduction and extremely low consumption of time. The real-time status and futuristic approaches to be adopted are briefed in the paper and also the scope for sustainability over other practices are detailed in the paper.