Researchers from the University of Michigan’s Taubman College have unveiled details of their latest innovation in 3D printing, which the team claims creates “ultra-lightweight, waste-free concrete.” Led by architect Aghaei Meibodi and researchers Alireza Bayramvand and Yuxin Lin of the college's DART laboratory, the group’s ‘Shell Wall’ system also claims to be 72% lighter compared to a conventional solid concrete system of the same size.

The research team’s project is a departure from traditional 3D concrete printing, which sees a 3D printing tool head operating parallel to the ground or along a single plane. As we described in our in-depth look at the design and construction of a 3D-printed house in Arizona, the tool head follows a defined path and deposits mortar in horizontal layers, repeating the process until the resulting mold is completed to a defined height and reinforced with rebars or additional concrete.

“This leads to high concrete consumption and limits its application for lightweight forms that entail intricate shapes like branching and angular tubular forms, overhangs, layer cantilevers, and filament section or angle variations,” said Meibodi, reflecting on the traditional approach.

In contrast, the team’s ‘Shell Wall’ uses computational design in a process dubbed “topology optimization,” which generated the most efficient distribution of the 3D printed concrete based on performance criteria such as strength or weight. By using a computational model of the proposed structure, a 3D printing path can be followed taking into account its unique shape and geometries.

The new process “eliminates unnecessary overbuilding with excessive amounts of materials, said Meibodi. “All of these factors combined mean that we can build better, more environmentally friendly structures at a lower cost.”

News of the innovation comes weeks after BIG and ICON revealed a new 3D printing collaboration with hotelier Liz Lambert in Texas, and one month after a team from IAAC/WASP created a “solid and expressive” 3D printed earthen wall.