d shape presentation

8/13/2019 d Shape Presentation

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The 21st century revolution in building



D-Shape is a brand created by Monolite UK Ltd.



Since the 19th century, the constructionindustry has been using Portland cementto cast concrete into a formwork con-taining a steel cage, cementing bricksand stones using masonry.Despite the availability of constructionmachinery such as cranes, pumps, con-crete mixers, moulds and form works,the building industry is currently relianton the manual intervention of profes-sional builders who are the hands whichoperate the machinery.Today’s construction technology lags

behind the available computer designtechnology. The new 3D CAD software

allows architects to conceive and designa construction easily but existing build-ing methods prevent the full potentialof the new design software from be-ing achieved. Existing materials suchas reinforced concrete and masonryare expensive and inflexible. To build acomplex concave-convex surface, forexample, would require the pre-fabrica-tion of expensive formworks and cages,the mounting of complicated scaffolding

and then the manual casting.Furthermore, existing techniques requireskilled personnel to continually refer toplans/blue-prints which is very expen-sive.Stereolithography, also known as 3-Dlayering or 3D printing, allows the cre-ation of three-dimensional (3-D) objectsfrom CAD drawings. It is already used tomanufacture small objects.These scaled models of a building werecreated by a Z-Corp 3D printing machine

operated using this method. To achieve

Introduction



this building on a full scale will onlyrequire a machine of adequate size and

the right binder.

Introducing d_shape, Dini has openedthe way for application of this processon a large scale.

With d_shape, we will enable architectsto make the buildings they design usinga robotic building machine that usesCAD-CAE-CAM design technology. Thiswill allow a level of precision and free-

dom of design unheard of in the pastand the human limitations of masterbuilders and bricklayers will no longerhamper architects’ visions.

d_shape,the CopernicanRevolutionof conglomeratebuilding construction



This picture shows how “Radiolaria” ap-peared just after breaking the self-builtshell at the end of the two week buildingprocess and after one week finishing byhand. It is a two meter tall monolithicsandstone structure printed using ap-proximately 200 -10 mm thick layers ofsandstone rejects, aggregated by a newrevolutionary inorganic binder.

It is the first ever example of classic

stereolithography being applied to thebuilding industry and it is a huge innova-tion of both product and process.

This Gazebo was designed by Londonarchitect Andrea Morgante based on asmall micro-organism called ‘Radiolaria’and was printed (scaled 1:4 in respect offinal dimension) with a 3D Printer devel-oped by the Italian Engineer Enrico Dini.

The material contained in the Gacost just £60 (sand and binder).

The effect of this invention in thestruction industry could be compthe introduction of printers in pltypewriters in the office environto the invention of the car.

The first Daimler built in 12 seriehad a capacity 1076 CC , developpower of 2,8 horsepower at a maspeed 18 km/h; less then half the

of a horse running. Today, a DaimSmart with the same capacity de85 horse power output at 145 kmspeed. These two cars, apart haviwheels, have one important thingcommon: an internal combustion



The printer conceived by Dini is probablyat an analogue stage of that reached by

the car pioneer over one century ago,but the inventor believes that at leasttwo concepts will be still present in theprinters of the future:• The principle of using inorganic eco-logic cheap binders in the same way aninkjet operates on a sheet of paper.• The principle of printing a containingshell, because this make the machinelight with easy assembly.

Dini believes that supported with ad-equate investment and the right partnersdevelopment will be rapid.Dini is aiming to develop a ‘yard’ printerand not a laboratory one.

A precise, but strong and reliable machine;sophisticated but user friendly; with aquick mechanical, electric, electronic setup, low encumbrance and light; easy toassemble and disassemble; low cost run-ning, using cheap and ecologic bindersand suitable for using with local sands to

reduce environmental impact;

a modular machine able to printor huge buildings; based on a tec

intrinsically open to quantity andity improvements by future devethanks to his simple working cona machine capable of printing bestrong amazing structures.

A technology conceived for a betmankind and environment, bringtogether sustainability and beauaffordable cost. This technology revolutionize the way architects

and construct buildings.



After four years research and development,Dini has recently tested the 6m x 6m pro-totype successfully. This new machineryenables full-size sandstone buildings to bemade without human intervention using astereolithography 3-D printing process thatrequires only sand and our special inorgan-ic binder to operate.

Seen from the exterior, d_shape appearslike a big aluminium structure inside whichthe building will be constructed. CAD-CAM

software drives the machinery during the

building process and this structure holdsthe printer head, which is the real core ofthe new technology. The machine consistsof a rigid 6 x 6 metre plan that lifts alongthe four columns. The columns can be

made longer adding parts up to 9 -12 me-ters. Each corner of the plan is provided ofan electro-pneumatic climbing device con-trolled by an encoder with 0,1 mm resolu-tion. On the lifting plan is mounted a bridgealong which runs the printing head whichis hung perpendicularly to the bridge.The printing head holds 300 servo drivennozzles that drop a ‘structural ink’. Thenozzles are mutually positioned at 20 mminteraxis and can release a printed track asshown in the picture where the width is

related to the speed of the printing head, to

the ejecting pressure and nozzle diaDespite its large size, the structure

light and can be easily transported,sembled and dismantled in a few htwo workmen.

The total stroke of the printing heatres) could be extended almost indaccording to the bending resistancbridge to which it is hung.The advancing speed of the printincan be variated from 0 to 500 mm/sprinting head can slide laterally up mm to cover the gap between theThis means that the full section pic

obtained by operating the printing

Product

and processoverview



forward and backward to cover the entiregap. Printing detail of completed printedafter second backward stroke.

In the picture this full shape was filled by10 mm width strips. The theoretical withof the strip was 5 mm, as per dimensionof the pixel fixed in 5 mm, but the effectivestrip width was 10 mm plus an overmaterial due to side adsorbtion.



Overall plant dimensions: 7.5 x 7.5 mHeight: 3-6-9-12-18 metresMaximum areas of printing(including the shell) : 6 x 6 mNumber of nozzles: 300 at 20 mm interaxisNozzle intervention time: 10-15 msecCommand and Control: by PC-PLC Siemensoperating via Profibus communicationprotocol

Weight (not including the feeding

equipment): 1.300 kg

Weight including the feeding equipment:5000 kg

Power supply: 380 V-220 V - 50HzPower consumption (not including thefeeding equipment: 2kW peakPower consumption (including the feedingequipment): max 40 kW peak

Min/max sand granulometry : 0,1- 60 mm(0,3 mm during first test)Productivity: 15 cm/day (effective output

during tests) - 30 cm (theoretical) with twoturns.People needed to run the machine: 2

Pixel dimension: 5 mmMinimum layer thickness: 5 mm +/- 0,5 mmMaximum layer thickness: 60 mm

Theoretical output printing resolution:25 dpiEffective output printing resolution

during test: 4-6 dpi

d_shape6x6 Data

Sheetand per-

formances



At the beginning of the research, Dinipatented a system based on use of epoxy

resins dropped by a nozzle on a layer ofsand deposited inside a closed perimeter.He got pretty good results in terms ofprinting resolution but the final outputwas an expensive, flammable, non-eco-logical object.Moreover, the machine operated veryslowly using just an expensive high main-tenance nozzle due to a mix of bi-compo-nent organic binder inside the operatinghead.

Epoxy or polyurethane resins, suitablefor use as a binder, are not environmen-tally preferable, both for production andwaste treatment reasons; they producea flammable object product, and releasetoxic exhaust gas and vapour.Resins also require a precise binder-to-granular material ratio, which remark-ably increases production costs of thespraying head used for laying the binder.Furthermore resins call for accurateand frequent maintenance and cleaning

operations, and for periodical replace-

TheMaterial

ment parts for the spraying headsthe granular material and the binmixed.

Another drawback of the use of rbinders is the low elasticity moduthe resultant conglomerate, whiccause of too much deformability load-bearing parts of the structurbending and tensile deformability

Dini abandoned this system/mate



started searching for a binder systemthat might match his vision of a perfect

material: inorganic, cheap, ecologic, lowviscosity to be used as a common ink andcapable of giving structural strength tothe conglomerate.

Dini was unable to find anything on themarket ready for use, but did find some-thing close to his needs in the artificialstone industry.

Helped by chemical experts, it was devel-oped a structural ink, low viscosity, hightsuperficial tension liquid with extraordi-nary reticulate properties if added to acatalyser.

This meant Dini was able to develop a bi-component liquid/solid inorganic binderin which the liquid fraction is released bya common low maintenance nozzle andthe solid fraction is mixed to the inert.

The catalyst is a powder solid, which is

dispersed among the granular material to

form a mixture. In particular the catalysthas a granulometry finer than the granu-

lometry of said granular material.This helps to increase the hardness ofthe obtained conglomerate, since thegranules of said catalyst partially fill theempty spaces existing between the gran-ules forming the granular material.

The liquid component has a reducedviscosity. Furthermore, the liquid compo-nent has a high surface tension.This allows a fast opening and closingrate of the distributing nozzles of themoving unit, according to an input signalcoming from the control unit.

The granular material, for example quarrystone, has a granulometry set between0.01 mm and 65 mm. Materials with granulometry set in suchwide limits are generally easy to find;furthermore, they can be derived fromlimestone sludge or from quarry waste

material.



TheProcessThe process begins with the architsigning his project using CAD 3D ctechnology. The computer design downloaded into a STL file (stereophy) and is imported into the comprogramme that controls d_shape’head. To demonstrate how d_shapmissing link between developmenarchitectural world and the constrworld, we have joined forces withdon Architect Andrea Morgante wdesigned the first object to be prin

d_shape, Radiolaria, a sort of smal

The granular material is not inert duringcatalysis reaction, and instead it is ac-

tively and deeply involved in the reaction.Therefore, the material obtained throughthis method is not an ordinary concretematerial, i.e. a poor tension-resistant ma-terial in which inert granules are slightlybound together; instead it is a mineral-like material, which demonstrates ahigh level of hardness and a high tensilestrength, due to tough microcrystallinestructure.Furthermore, the catalysis reaction is sofast it allows the conglomerate to hardenin a short time and to achieve a tensilestrength close to the final tensile strengthin a few hours, thus speeding up the erec-tion of the structure.

A step is provided of adding high tensilestrength reinforcing fibres to said mix-ture of said granular material and of saidcatalyst, said reinforcing fibres selectedfrom the group comprised of glass fibres,carbon fibres, nylon fibres.

This way, the conglomerate obtained

through the method has a diffused ten-sile strength and a high stiffness, which

compensates for a possible low tensilestrength of the binding material or for apossible low elasticity modulus.

Effectively, the new process returns anytype of sand, dust or gravel back to itsoriginal compact stone state. The stoneis very similar to marble.



The d_shape building process is similarto the “printing” process because the

system operates by straining a binder ona sand layer. This is similar to what an ink

jet printer does on a sheet of paper. Thisprinciple allows the architect to designfantastically complex architectural struc-tures.

The process takes place in a non-stopwork session, starting from the founda-tion level and ending on the top of theroof, including stairs, external and inter-

nal partition walls, concave and convexsurfaces, bas-reliefs, columns, statues,wiring, cabling and piping cavities.

During the printing of each section astructural ink is deposited by the printer’snozzles on the sand. The solidificationprocess takes 24 hours to complete. Theprinting starts from the bottom of theconstruction and rises up in sections of5-10 mm. Upon contact the solidification

process starts and a new layer is added.



D-ShapeCompanyProfileD-Shape Ltd was set up in 2007 as Mono-lite UK Ltd, with the aim of producingand selling 3D Printers of Buildings to-gether with related materials, productsand services, directly or through associ-ates.

D-Shape Ltd holds the patent on whichd_shape technology is based and relatedknow-how.

d_shape will be competing with the

traditional construction industry which

uses cement, reinforced concrete, bricksand stones. According to the vision of

the inventor, D-Shape Ltd will becomethe holding company for companiesdomiciled in different countries aroundthe world, and it will be substantially aservices and R&D company.

Dinitech will sell manufacturing licensesand exclusive use licenses on a regionalbasis. In the meantime D-Shape has be-come an integral part of “The Moon Fac-tory: Industrial Short series Rapid Manu-facturing Unit” which is a collaborativeproject uniting the best of Europe’s R&Dcentres that aims at creating the capa-bility to build on the moon.

Dini’s mission is to contribute to makingthe Construction Industry more environ-mentally friendly, as well as providinglow-cost access to building for people inneed around the world promoting theuse of environmentally friendly materi-als and very low levels of energy.



mix of creativity and science thaalso him an Inventor.

Running his company Dini Enginin Italy, Enrico has spent his entireer in the sector of mechanics, tion and robotics, manufacturingautomated machines, such as wemilling, cementing and roughingbots, manipulators enslaved to inmachines, assembling lines and digitizers.

He has been a specialist of robotthe footwear industry and been iin several research projects for thindustry funded by national and research bodies.

Enrico Dini cooperates with ScuoSuperiore Sant’Anna, the technolbranch of the famous Scuola NoPisa, also with many high-tech cnies and with the Department ofneering “Ulisse Dini” of Pisa.

TheFounder

Enrico Dini is the founder of D-Shape Ltd.He invented, developed and patented thed_shape technology. He works full timein the company in the role of technicalperson responsible for the project.

Enrico Dini was born in Pisa, Tuscany, in1962 and graduated in Civil Engineeringat Pisa University. His family is from along tradition of mathematicians, sci-entists and engineers. His grandfather,Ulisse Dini is a famous mathematician

who wrote various works on differential

geometry such as Dini’s surface, equa-tions and theorems on infinitesimalanalysis.

His father Egisto taught Automotive En-gineering at Pisa University, and beforethis was Head of the Calculation Depart-ment at Piaggio factory from the end ofthe war. He was also a part of CorradinoD’ascanio’s team of inventors of the He-licopter, Vespa scooter and 3 wheel Apethat filled the Indian roads. To the mes-

sage from both Enrico is grateful for that



Monolite Ltd - 101, Wardour Street - London W1F 0UN (UK)tel: +44 (0)798 [email protected] - www.d-shape.com

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