Techmer PM LLC<\/a>, with some eye\u2010catching end results \u2013\u2013 one an outdoor structure of record\u2010breaking proportions in Nashville, Tenn., and the other an indoor hanging garden installation at Chicago\u2019s Field Museum. While the former is produced from Techmer PM\u2019s Electrafil carbon\u2010fiber\u2010reinforced engineering plastics, the latter project used a biopolymer as the printing material.<\/p>\nAccording to Branch, at its core, its Cellular Fabrication production process combines industrial robotics, sophisticated algorithms, and carbon composite materials to freeform print open\u2010cell structures. It is distinctive in that it prints volumes as cellular matrices. The open\u2010cell nature allows for efficient builds and endless dimensional form. For architectural application, the matrix acts as a formwork or scaffold to accept traditional building materials. In these two projects, the matrix served as the structure itself.<\/p>\n
C\u2010Fab uses a patented extrusion head attached to a Kuka Robotics arm. The arm travels along a horizontal track creating a build volume of 3,000 cubic feet. Specially developed algorithms allow it to translate virtually any three\u2010dimensional design into physical form. C\u2010Fab creates full\u2010 scale building components, not models. The process is capable of generating components that are 8 feet wide by 12 feet high by 30 feet long. Each component can be attached to the next, allowing even larger builds and continuous forms of unprecedented scale.<\/p>\n
The result is a method of making custom, prefabricated building components with improved materials strength, lower construction and labor costs and increased energy efficiency. Another key benefit to C\u2010Fab is that it is an inherently zero\u2010waste process. While the construction and demolition industry produce about 30 percent of all waste, the C\u2010Fab method constrains material use to only that which is absolutely required.
\nBranch Technology\u2019s project \u201cNature Clouds\u201d represents the world’s first and largest free\u2010form, 3D\u2010printed hanging garden installation and was made for the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History for the museum\u2019s 125th anniversary. The project’s goal is to bring a missing natural living element in the form of an ever\u2010evolving \u201cliving reef\u201d to the museum’s Stanley Field Hall.<\/p>\n
The \u201cclouds\u201d are part of a larger environment that includes several life\u2010size dinosaur installations. The four hanging gardens, or clouds, comprise 3,940 pounds of printed material and steel, and supports vegetation, hydroponics, lighting, theatrical fog and sound equipment with a combined weight of 12,270 pounds. Each cloud can be raised or lowered as needed.<\/p>\n
The largest cloud also provides an immersive plant environment when lowered for public interaction. Branch created the 3D printed parts on the world’s largest freeform 3D printing robots using a biopolymer as the printing material.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe created a compound specifically for the Field Museum\u2019s Nature Clouds to meet their requirements for strength, flammability, and bio\u2010sourced resin,\u201d said Techmer PM\u2019s Franc. The project\u2019s designer, Daniel Pouzet, and the museum’s exhibits group chose Branch\u2019s C\u2010Fab method to leverage the technology\u2019s strength, light weight, design freedom, and cost effectiveness compared with traditional steel construction.<\/p>\n
C\u2010Fab\u2019s strength\u2010to\u2010weight benefits helped make it the clear choice for the installation\u2019s interaction with the Field Museum’s historic plaster ceiling structure, Branch noted. The project\u2019s total printed volume amounts to 756 cubic feet, comprising 279 total parts. The project was created as a kit of repeating parts capable of supporting more than 1,000 plants and plant life systems.<\/p>\n
\u201cTypical construction methods are constraining,\u201d notes Branch Technology founder and CEO Platt Boyd, who himself is an architect. \u201cCustom complex form is prohibitively expensive and often inconceivable to manufacture. With C\u2010Fab, cost\u2010effective design freedom is democratized for all.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Branch Technology Inc., an architectural fabricator that specializes in large\u2010scale 3D printing, has completed two projects that showcase the benefits of marrying advanced material technology with Branch\u2019s method for 3D printing architectural components. Branch collaborated on both projects with plastics compounder and materials design firm Techmer PM LLC, with some eye\u2010catching end results \u2013\u2013 one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","nova_meta_subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[10588,6026,12430],"supplier":[14793,2145],"class_list":["post-55612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-3dprinting","tag-biopolymers","tag-buildingmaterial","supplier-branch-technology","supplier-techmer-pm"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55612\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55612"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=55612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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