(Image courtesy of Branch Technology.)
Branch Technology has erected what it claims is the world’s largest 3D-printed structure for Nashville, Tenn.’s
OneC1TY neighborhood. Unveiled at the 2018 International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures this week, the structure strands at 20 feet tall and stretches 42 feet wide.
Chattanooga, Tenn.-based firm is known for its unique 3D printing process, Cellular Fabrication (C-Fab), which sees industrial robotic arms extrude a composite made of carbon fiber-reinforced ABS plastic.
While this process was initially designed for creating the inner scaffolding of walls made from spray foam and concrete, the startup has been 3D printing large pavilions to demonstrate just how capable the technology is.
This latest example was commissioned by a Dallas-based developer, Cambridge, and designed and produced by Branch Technology. While the original design suggested the need for a steel support system, the design was optimized to remove such a requirement, and the price tag that would go with it. To accomplish this, Branch Technology worked with R&D incubator CORE Studio to create an open-cell design.
Read more at ENGINEERING.com