From 3D concrete printing to digital construction sites – prospects for the construction industry of tomorrow

Additive manufacturing currently represents the most visible step on the path to digital construction. Concrete construction in particular demonstrates how materials, processes, and forms can be combined to create a digitally networked overall system. However, the potential of 3D concrete printing extends far beyond innovation as a manufacturing technology. On the one hand, it enables the production of completely new shapes, leading to greater material and structural efficiency. In this context, we are conducting interdisciplinary research at the Technical University of Braunschweig into new shape-active coastal and flood protection structures that dissipate the energy of water not only through resistance, but also through optimized shapes. On the other hand, 3D concrete printing enables the transition to a higher-level, digitized construction industry. Construction sites play a key role in this.

But how can the transition from analog construction sites to digitally networked manufacturing environments be achieved? Complete automation is neither the goal nor realistic. It is crucial that humans—who have always been a central part of construction sites—continue to play this role in the future. The key to digitalization therefore lies in the intelligent networking of humans and machines. Augmented reality allows humans and machines to interact in such a way that human flexibility and adaptability are specifically incorporated into the manufacturing processes. Construction sites thus become cyber-physical, adaptive manufacturing environments in which humans and machines work together in a digitally networked manner. In 3D concrete printing in particular, this will increase productivity, quality, and occupational safety in the future, as well as shorten construction times. At the same time, new ways of reconciling economic, ecological, and social concerns in the spirit of Construction Industry 5.0 are opening up.