Additive construction: State-of-the-art, challenges and opportunities

The present study has investigated to what extent additive manufacturing technologies can be successfully applied to the construction of large-scale structures. The central concept of additive construction was defined, and a systematic mapping study was performed in order to assemble relevant publications selected according to a well-defined set of criteria. Knowledge gathered from the relevant publications was organised into four main categories: material science, engineering, building design and market analysis. The lack of focus of material science research towards the characterisation and potential improvement of construction-related material properties has been emphasised. The evolution of technological solutions to deposit the construction materials from gantry solutions to more lightweight systems has been described. The governing parameters for deciding on the most appropriate solutions have been identified as the type of building component, the location for production, and the assembly technique. Benefits of additive construction for building design were shown to mostly address the perspective of end-users, but should instead be understood as the emergence of new opportunities and new constraints that will necessitate a greater degree of rational decision-making in the design phase. The relevant markets for additive construction were shown to be closely related to the inherent specificities of the project in question. This implies that additive construction can be successfully applied in connection with general housing projects only if housing in general changes to become more optimised and more individualised. It was concluded that additive construction has the potential to revolutionise the construction industry, its success depending on how the whole building industry is ready to tackle three challenges: the need for an architectural paradigm shift, the need for a holistic design process, and the need for rational designs. A list of suggestions for further research is provided, among them the development of tools for assessing the disruptive potential of additive construction in an objective and scientific way.