Exploration of a cable-driven 3D printer for concrete tower structures

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Manufacturing Research Demonstration Facility (MDF) are currently developing a cable-driven concrete additive manufacturing (AM) system called SKYBAAM. This system is a novel solution for 3D printing large structures using concrete. The current research focuses primarily on proof of concepts for the cable driven system, material selection, material pumping solutions, and the concrete extruder design. Looking forward from the success of the current research, this paper investigates the feasibility of using the SKYBAAM on a larger scale, specifically for extremely tall tower structures. The current system design presents challenges at a larger scale, and so the primary focus of this paper is to investigate new designs of a platform that would support large-scale SKYBAAM operations. Additionally, this paper will discuss the resulting deflections that can be expected due to machine operation and wind-loading. Excessive structural deflections could lead to loss of printing accuracy, or even a complete failure of the print, so it is important to establish that acceptable deflections can be reasonably achieved on these large-scale tower structures.