Synopsis:

3D printing refers to the technology of fabricating objects through the deposition of a material using a print head, nozzle, or similar printing technology. It is a game‐changing technology that enables manufacturing to go digital and promotes a third industrial revolution in the 21st Century. Over the past decades, the advancement of materials and techniques enables 3D printing to be widely used in various commercial sectors.

In construction, 3D printing is still in an infant stage. Literature review reveals that most research studies are mainly focusing on cement‐based material printing and finally, the formwork‐free fabrication approach including concrete printing method and D‐shape method have dominated the field. However, this printing approach is subject to some problems such as low productivity, weak mechanical strength and poor surface quality and thus, a new 3D printing fabrication approach is proposed.

This project aims to introduce a novel concept of fabricating a building using a 3D printed multi‐function formwork named SMART Freeform Formwork (SmartForm).

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Background:

Dr. Chung Kin Hung Jacky is an Assistant Professor with the Department of Building, School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore. He is an experienced researcher in the areas of Construction 3D Printing, Building Information Modeling (BIM), Collaborative Team Work, Construction Briefing, Stakeholder Engagement, Public‐private Partnership (PPP), and Value Management (VM). Dr. Chung publicly shared his ideas for the research project during the International Workshop on Construction 3D Printing "Recent Advances and Future Trends" in early 2017.

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Shortly after, I was recruited as a Research Assistant working on the early stages of designing and developing SmartForm, together with Sr. Research Assistant Henry Chen Yuhong. SmartForm was part of the larger research project in Construction 3D Printing Research in NUS Centre of Project Management and Construction Law, led by Dr. Chung.

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I joined the research team without much background knowledge in construction or working with cement. However, I had experience with 3D printing, the skills to ideate and make prototypes, and the ability to learn the basics quickly on the job.