The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-021-07213-0

CRITICAL REVIEW

3D printing in construction: state of the art and applications

Yifan Pan 1 & Yulu Zhang 1 & Dakang Zhang 1 & Yuying Song 2

Received: 21 August 2020 / Accepted: 3 May 2021

# The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag London Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2021

Abstract
3D printing is an emerging technology that revolutionizes the traditional construction industry. Although it has gained wide
attention, implementing the state of the art of 3D printing in construction has remained limited. Since the technology has been
developing very fast and many innovations have been made public by nonacademic sources, excluding them would inevitably
result in an incomplete picture. Therefore, in this review, we aimed to fill this gap by including all the construction 3D printing
projects and studies performed from nonacademic sources as well as academic articles. Apart from evaluating the current
progress, we also examined the readiness of 3D printing applications in construction, both from technical and nontechnical
aspects. As reflected by various printing products and applications, this technology can offer much for the construction industry.
However, the current printing technology cannot yet produce products for the construction sector due to limited printing
materials, methods, and systems. Many projects have been performed by self-developed printing setups, which are technically
similar. In addition, the impacts of the technology have never been quantified. Researchers and practitioners dive into techno-
logical developments without knowing whether they would bring benefits to the construction industry. Whether following this
new trend and reinventing 3D printing setups a waste of resources remains a question. For its applications in construction, more
government support and official national and international building codes can be expected.

Keywords 3D printing . Concrete printing . Mass customization . Construction . Literature review

1 Introduction “a rare example of a single technology that has become truly

disruptive by itself” [2]. In 2013, McKinsey, a global manage-
3D printing refers to “the fabrication of objects through the ment consulting firm, selected 3D printing technology as one
deposition of a material using a print head, nozzle, or another of the 12 technologies that are expected to bring ground-
printer technology” [1]. It has been identified by Gartner, one breaking innovations [3]. During the past decade, this tech-
of the leading information technology research companies, as nology has experienced major developments and revolution-
ized the manufacturing process. The technological develop-
ments in 3D printing have benefited the aerospace, automo-
* Yulu Zhang tive, medical, and food industries [4–8]. Recently, 3D printing
zhangyulu1991@126.com has also been employed in the construction industry with little
progress over the last century. This combination of 3D print-
Yifan Pan
yifanpan710@foxmail.com ing with the construction industry is usually denoted as “con-
struction 3D printing” [9].
Dakang Zhang Construction 3D printing is defined as “the process of join-
qhdzdk@163.com
ing materials to create constructions from 3D model data” [1].
Yuying Song The construction 3D printing era started in 1997 with one
837831560@qq.com
research and one patent. The 3D printing technology was first
1 applied to construction by Pegna from Rensselaer Polytechnic
Research and Development Center, Guangdong Zhidao Advanced
Civil Engineering Materials Technology Research Co., Ltd., Foshan Institute in 1997 [10]. In the same year, Khoshnevis from the
528200 People’s Republic of China University of Southern California published a patent titled
2
School of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Environment, Hubei “Additive fabrication method.” The technology was later
University of Technology, Wuhan 430068 People’s Republic of coined as “Contour Crafting” in 2001 [11]. Following these
China

endeavors, more automated construction systems were devel-
oped. “Concrete Printing” was developed at Loughborough
University in 2003 [5], “D-shape” by Dini in 2007 [12], and
selective deposition for ultra-high-performance concrete by
Gosselin in 2016 [13]. All of them can fabricate large-scale
construction components, even whole buildings. Recently, a
hotel, an office, and several residential buildings were built by
construction 3D printing [14–16]. Printing with non-cement-
based materials and non-building construction is under devel-
opment, such as steel bridge by a Dutch company named
MX3D [17]. 3D printing provides reduced time, manual labor,
and waste generation while enabling mass customization [11,
18].
Compared to the manufacturing industry, implementing
3D printing in the construction sector is relatively new.
Recently, planned, ongoing, and completed 3D printing
projects in construction have boomed. However, the
technology’s applicability in the construction industry
has not been rationally evaluated. To promote 3D printing
in the construction industry, it is important to systemati-
cally review the progress that has been made and suggest
directions for future developments. Existing reviews on
construction 3D printing focus on academic research arti-
cles, but many related projects have also been published
by nonacademic sources. Therefore, to avoid the knowl-
edge gap, construction 3D printing studies published by
academic journals as well as online sources are included
in this review. Then, the readiness of adopting the tech-
nology is evaluated from technical and nontechnical
points of view. In this way, this review article can provide
new insights into the applications of 3D printing in con-
struction and identify the challenges that need to be over-
come for the realization of 3D printing in construction.
This article aimed to provide a panoramic view of the ap-
plications of 3D printing in the construction industry. To this
end, three objectives were identified:
1. Present the general mapping of construction 3D printing
projects and research;
2. Check the readiness of adopting 3D printing in construc-
tion both technically and nontechnically; and
3. Identify the obstacles, challenges, and future development
trends.
This review article is structured as follows: the con-
struction 3D printing process is introduced in Section 1,
followed by a description of data collection and research
methods in Section 2. The state of the art of construction
3D printing projects is presented in Section 3. Technical
and nontechnical aspects of adopting the technology are
evaluated in Section 4 and Section 5, respectively.
Finally, conclusions and identified challenges and obsta-
cles are provided in Section 6.
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
2 Data collection and research method
A comprehensive literature review was performed to identify
the current cases of construction 3D printing projects and sci-
entific research outcomes. Figure 1 shows the details of the
systematic data collection and analysis process.
Stage 1: Literature search was the first stage aimed to
retrieve articles relevant to construction 3D printing
from academic databases and nonacademic (Internet)
sources. Web of Science, Scopus, and Google scholar
were used as they cover most peer-reviewed journals
in the construction industry. For nonacademic articles,
Google, 3D printing industry, Nanjixiong, 3D printer,
and 3D printing news, and Dezeen magazine were
selected. A comprehensive search was performed
using the “Article/Title/Keyword” field in academic
resources, and keyword search was implemented in
the websites. The search schema included “Additive
Manufacturing or 3D Printing and Construction, and
Building or Civil or Architectural or Structure” for
academic database search, and “3D construction or
3D building” for internet-based search. For academic
resources, the search was restricted to journal articles
and conference papers. Apart from Nanjixiong, which
retrieved Chinese articles, only English articles were
retrieved from the websites and databases. In total, 331
academic and 183 nonacademic articles were found.
Stage 2: Literature selection was the stage aimed to re-
move duplications and irrelevant articles. The screening
was conducted by one author reading the full articles.
Only the papers that involve the construction 3D printing
topic were chosen. After screening, 81 academic articles
and 75 internet articles were selected.
Stage 3: Literature coding was the stage in which the
entire passages from all the publications were examined
for literature coding. The basic information such as pub-
lishing year and origin were stored in a database. Besides,
printing materials, methods, products, and systems were
scrutinized, extracted, and gathered for further analysis.
The publication source, research method, and study type
and topic were also analyzed for academic articles.
Besides, nontechnical aspects such as policy, cost, regu-
lations, safety, and environmental benefits were also
gathered.
Stage 4: Data analysis was the stage for the general map-
ping of construction 3D printing based on publishing
year, origin, publication source, research method, and
study type and topic. Printing materials, methods, prod-
ucts, and systems were used to deduce the technical read-
iness of 3D printing in construction. Information on pol-
icy, cost, regulations, safety, and environmental benefits
were analyzed for the adoption of construction 3D print-
ing based on nontechnical aspects.
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
Fig. 1 Five stages of the systematic review process
Stage 5: Discussion was finally performed by combining
the data analysis results of general mapping with techni-
cal and nontechnical readiness to adopt 3D printing in
construction and revealing the patterns of construction
3D printing projects. In addition, obstacles and chal-
lenges were identified to adopt 3D printing in the con-
struction industry. Doing so will help to address issues
and promote the adoption of large-scale construction 3D
printing.
3 State of the art of construction 3D printing
In total, 81 academic and 75 online articles were chosen for
this research. Sixty-four of the online articles report projects
which have been completed or are ongoing. The rest of the
online articles include construction 3D printing machines or
technologies without completion, thus are insufficient to re-
flect the state of the art of construction 3D printing. Thus, only
64 online articles alongside 81 academic articles were consid-
ered for general mapping.
3.1 Development over time
The timeline of the 81 papers and 64 projects is shown in
Fig. 2. One of the 81 papers was a report with an un-
known publication date, and 4 of the 64 projects are on-
going, so they were excluded. The earliest paper
published was in 1997 by Pegna from Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute [10] on solid freeform construction.
Next, attempts followed after nearly 10 years, one in 2006
and another in 2007. Those papers that describe rapid
prototyping or additive manufacturing in a general way
were not included. Not until the year 2010 were there
continuous publications. The average yearly number of
publications from 2010 to 2013 was 3 papers. Then, the
first peak in publication showed in the year 2014 with 12
papers. Publications in 2015 and 2016 dropped to an av-
erage of 6 papers, followed by the most productive year,
2017, with 34 papers.
Moreover, the first project was performed 15 years after the
publication of the first paper on the topic, in the year 2012.
After that, there was a continuous development. The year
2012 and 2013 witnessed 3 and 4 projects respectively,
followed by a continuous peak from 2014 to 2016 when the
finished projects increased from 12 to 14 and then to 18. A
slight drop was observed in 2017 with 9 finished projects. In
addition, 4 ongoing projects have been reported.
To conclude, both articles and projects started to flourish in
the past 7 years. Projects have progressed much later than the
research as it takes longer to produce real-world applications.
3.2 Country of origin
In total, 25 countries have published papers or accomplished
projects on construction 3D printing. Four of them, Japan, the
Philippines, Slovenia, and UAE, finished projects without

Fig. 2 Yearly frequencies of
research papers and projects on
construction 3D printing (1988–
2017)
publishing any papers. On the contrary, 9 countries have pub-
lished papers but have not implemented any projects (Fig. 3).
Twelve countries have both published paper(s) and accom-
plished project(s). Among them, USA is undoubtedly the
leading country with 20 papers and 19 projects. China ranked
2nd with 8 papers and 9 projects. Following China is the UK
with 10 papers and 5 projects, and the Netherlands with 3
papers and 12 projects. France, Australia, Italy, Singapore,
and Spain are also leading countries in the research and prac-
tice of construction 3D printing.
Geographically, North America is the most productive in
construction 3D printing research, followed by Europe. Asia
is emerging with China being increasingly active. No re-
searches or projects have been performed in Africa or South
America.
Fig. 3 Global map of published
papers and completed projects by
country
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
3.3 Publication journal and conference
The selected 81 academic articles consisted of 48 journal pa-
pers, 29 conference papers, and 4 reports. Most of the journals
and conferences published only one work related to construc-
tion 3D printing. Automation in Construction is highly active
in the field of construction 3D printing with 9 papers pub-
lished. Following that is Construction and Building
Materials with 7 papers. Acta Astronautica and Virtual and
Physical Prototyping also published 3 and 2 papers, respec-
tively. For conferences, International Symposium on
Automation and Robotics in Construction (ISARC) ranked
first with 4 papers, followed by International Conference on
Bio-based Building Materials, International Conference on
Education and Research in Computer Aided Architectural
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
Design in Europe (eCAADe), and International Astronautical
Congress (IAC), each publishing 2 papers on the topic. These
journals and conferences are recommended for use when
researching construction 3D printing (Tables 1).
3.4 Research methods
The actual printing process is a key for the present construc-
tion 3D printing research. Researchers have mostly performed
actual printing (51 out of 81 papers). Among the 30 papers
without an actual printing process, conducting a literature re-
view is the most preferred research method adopted in 16
papers, followed by computer modeling and simulation (9
papers), case study (4 papers), and report (1 paper). Most of
the papers with the actual printing process involved experi-
mental results (45 out of 51 papers). For the rest of the printing
cases, 5 papers adopted case studies, and 1 research article
included experimental work with computer modeling and
simulation.
Both case studies and computer modeling and simulation
were adopted by researchers with or without the actual print-
ing process. Conducting experiments is the most popular
method among all, constituting more than 55% of the studies,
because applying 3D printing in construction is not technical-
ly mature yet. So, many studies were focused on developing
printing materials and technologies (Table 2).
3.5 Study type and topic of academic papers
Around 60% of the studies (47 out of 81) focused on technol-
ogy development, making it the most popular study type and
matches the current stage of adopting 3D printing in construc-
tion. Approximately half of them (24 studies) developed print-
ing materials. It is in alignment with the fact that no one
material has been agreed upon as the best printing material
for construction 3D printing. The other half consisted of 13
studies on printing technology, 6 studies on the printing sys-
tem, and 4 studies on design aspects, including mechanical
Table 1 General mapping of
journals and conferences with Name
more than one construction 3D
printing papers
Automation in Construction
Construction and Building Materials
Acta Astronautica
Virtual and Physical prototyping
International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction (ISARC)
International Conference on Bio-based Building Materials
International Conference on Education and Research in Computer Aided
Architectural Design in Europe (eCAADe)
International Astronautical Congress (IAC)
behavior, esthetics, construction method, and designing the
building of the future, as shown in Fig. 4.
3D printing application is the second most popular study
type with a total of 22 cases. Fourteen of the studies discussed
the feasibility to apply 3D printing in the construction industry
and 8 studies applied 3D printing models to facilitate the con-
struction process for testing or visualization. Out of 6 investi-
gation studies, 4 studies were based on the effectiveness of the
3D model to convey information, and 2 studies on the advan-
tages of using 3D printing in the construction industry.
Finally, 6 literature reviews have been published; 3 of them
covered general trends, practices, and applications of 3D
printing technology in construction, 2 reviews were based
on material preparation and optimization, and 1 review on
the classification of building systems.
4 Technical readiness for construction 3D
printing
4.1 Construction 3D printing process
In general, the construction 3D printing process is composed
of input, production, and output processes, as shown in Fig. 5.
In the input process, printing materials and building designs
are the major inputs. Building designs depend on highly di-
versified user requirements, while printing materials are lim-
ited by the technological development of the field. The build-
ing design and printing material are put into 3D printing ma-
chines during the production process. Specifically, the print-
ing material is directly put into a 3D printing system, while the
building design is first put into a 3D printing control system
and then transferred to the printing system by the control sys-
tem. Printing methods composed of printing technology and
the printing machine format are also defined in the printing
system. For the output process, building products are the out-
comes. Applying 3D printing in the construction industry pro-
vides mass customization and design freedom. A variety of
Publication Frequency
type
Journal 9
Journal 7
Journal 3
Journal 2
Conference 4
Conference 2
Conference 2
Conference 2

Table 2 Mapping of research
methods Group
Without an actual printing process
Performed an actual printing process
building products can be printed to meet a wide range of
building purposes.
Printing materials, methods, products, and systems provide
a holistic view of the construction 3D printing process.
Printing materials refer to the materials used to print products,
printing methods are the methods adopted to print the prod-
ucts, which include printing technology and machine format,
and printing products refer to the products printed. The print-
ing system links the software and hardware of the 3D printing
system. The printing materials and methods are the basic ele-
ments needed to produce products; they determine product
characteristics. The printing system makes it possible to con-
duct 3D printing, and the product types determine the utiliza-
tion of products.
4.2 Printing materials
Four main materials are used for common 3D printing: plastic,
ceramic, metal, and wax [19]. They showed that the materials
commonly used for construction 3D printing are different
from those used in standard 3D printing. Among all the 75
projects and 81 papers, 115 materials, which can be grouped
into non-organic, organic, and composite materials, were
clearly stated, as shown in Fig. 6. Cementitious materials,
Fig. 4 Reviewed academic
papers by topic and study type
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
Research method Frequency Total
Literature review 16 30
Computer modeling and simulation 9
Case study 4
Report on recent meetings 1
Experiment 45 51
Case study 5
Experiment, computer modeling, and simulation 1
space materials, sand, recycled construction waste, metal,
and sea salt were non-organic materials. Polymer, wood, and
algae were among the used organic materials. Soil, polymer/
metal, and rock and thread were composite materials.
Cementitious materials were used in more than half of the
studies, followed by polymeric and space materials. Sand,
recycled building waste, soil, and wood were used at least
three times. Finally, 6 material types were used once or twice
to incorporate new materials in construction.
Suitable materials for construction 3D printing are current-
ly being investigated. The availability of printing materials is
restricted by technology development and research endeavors.
Construction 3D printing is a process of several trade-offs;
one is between pumpability and buildability. 3D printing ma-
terials must have relatively low plastic viscosity and yield
stress to ensure sufficient flowability to be pumped properly.
Meanwhile, to be able to stack layer upon layer which is
denoted as “buildability,” the materials must be less flowable
and show higher plastic viscosity [20]. The relationship be-
tween open-time (the time between printing material printed
and setting) and printability is another trade-off [21]. Portland
cement concrete is the most widely used construction 3D
printing material because its unique properties are well-under-
stood. Moreover, a variety of admixtures are available to
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
Fig. 5 Construction 3D printing process
modify its performance. It is expected that concrete will re-
main to be widely used in construction 3D printing in the near
future [22].
Many researchers have been developing cementitious ma-
terials, which are compatible with 3D printers with high per-
formance. A high-performance fiber-reinforced printing mix-
ture was developed by Le et al. [21]. Pshtiwan et al. [23]
proposed a new type of 3D printing powder for powder-
based 3D printers. The powder was modified by cement.
Gosselin et al. [13] developed ultra-high-performance con-
crete for a real-world 3D printing system. The scope of cur-
rently available materials is still very restricted, more materials
should be investigated for an extrusion-based 3D printing
Fig. 6 Materials used for construction 3D printing projects
process [24]. The development of construction 3D printing
depends on material availability. A wide variety of materials
suitable for different purposes will promote the practical ap-
plications of construction 3D printing.
In addition, the technology to integrate steel reinforcement
into 3D-printed concrete structures is under development.
Manuel et al. [25] studied a 3D-printed composite of
Portland cement paste and reinforcing short fibers (carbon,
glass, and basalt fibers). Another example is the mesh mold
approach from Gramazio Kohler Research at ETH Zurich
using metal wire formworks that serve as the permanent rein-
forcement during the concreting process made from the digital
fabrication process [26].

4.3 Printing methods
Among the 75 nonacademic projects and 81 research papers,
102 cases clearly involved printing methods used, and no
actual printing has been carried out or the printing methods
were unknown in the remaining 54 cases. Printing methods
were diverse although a group of methods was developed for
research purposes by universities such as Technical
University of Eindhoven [27], University of Nantes [28],
ETH [29], and MIT[30], and research organizations such as
NASA for space habitats [31]. In total, 40 cases involved their
own printing methods for research purposes, and 23 cases for
commercial purposes by companies such as Winsun [32],
Huashang Tengda [33], Apis Cor [34], and MX3D [17].
Apart from universities, organizations, and companies, some
individuals have also developed their own technologies.
Rudenko developed his system to print a castle [35], Yakich
adopted Andrey’s method and further developed it to success-
fully print a hotel in the Philippines [14], and Schoch printed a
modular building [36]. Six individuals have developed their
own 3D printing methods. A complete list of 3D printing
methods used in the R&D stage is shown in Table 3.
These methods are mainly used in the R&D phase, while
relatively more mature 3D printing methods have also been
used. Four types of widely recognized concrete 3D printing
technologies are contour crafting [37], D-shape [38], concrete
printing [5], and ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) 3D
printing [13]. They are all large-scale construction 3D printing
methods for full-scale building construction [31]. This group
of methods has been used 17 times in total. Contour crafting
and D-shape are relatively more popular among large-scale
concrete printing, UHPC is new and still gaining popularity,
while concrete printing has not been well-developed. Another
group of relatively more mature 3D printing methods refer to
3D printers already available on the market, denoted as stan-
dard 3D printing machine in this article. Sixteen cases have
used 14 types of standard 3D printing methods, showing high-
ly diversified approaches, such as BetAbram [39], Denso ro-
bot [40], KUKA robotic arm [41], and V2 Vesta [42]. A com-
plete list of generic and concrete-specific standard 3D printing
methods is shown in Table 4.
3D printing methods in the R&D stage are similar to the
generic and concrete-specific 3D printing methods in many
technical aspects. It means universities, companies, and indi-
viduals are “reinventing” the printing methods. Is it a waste of
resources and time? When a research attempt on construction
3D printing is initiated, buying printing setups should be con-
sidered as one of the options. If the planned printing setups
can be found on the market, it is not recommended to try to
reinvent it.
Among all the construction 3D printing methods, four stan-
dard concrete 3D printing technologies have attracted much
attention. D-shape was invented by an Italian engineer named
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
Dini [38]. It deposits a binding agent layer by layer to a sand
bed, from which the printed piece is taken out when the print-
ing process is complete [13]. The unconsolidated sand pro-
vides support for overhanging sections, and the remaining
sand can be reused [5]. Its latest application is to build habitats
on the moon, which is possibly the closest to achieving the
construction of full-scale buildings among the existing rapid
prototyping systems [31]. Contour crafting is the first additive
fabrication technology developed for the custom design of
structures during in situ construction [43]. It extrudes two
layers of concrete paste to generate a formwork with a trowel
to simultaneously smoothen the surface. Contour crafting is
limited to vertical extrusion; thus, it is 2.5D topologies instead
of 3D [5]. The inventor, Khoshnevis, has got a patent for it in
1997. It is also considered as one of the most promising ap-
proaches to build human settlements in space, such as on the
Moon and Mars [43, 44]. Concrete printing was developed by
a team at Loughborough University [45]. The prototype ma-
chine used for concrete printing consists of a 5.4 m by 4.4 m
by 5.4 m frame and a printing head on a mobile horizontal
beam. The head moves in the x direction, while the beam
moves in the y and z directions; thus, a 3-axis deposition
system lacks precision when printing elements away from
verticality [13]. UHPC 3D printing refers to large-scale addi-
tive manufacturing of selective deposition for UHPC. It is
based on an FDM-like technique to deposit material layer by
layer through a printhead mounted on a 6-axis robotic arm
[46]. It is the youngest technology among the four methods,
and the robotic arm enables higher product complexity, fabri-
cation speed, and mechanical resistance [13]. Some technical
details of the four standard concrete 3D printing techniques
are shown in Table 5.
However, grouping the construction 3D printing methods
into 4 groups is a very rough classification. Duballet et al. [47]
performed a very detailed classification of building systems
for concrete 3D printing. They showed that only a small por-
tion of possible solutions has been explored; thus, many pos-
sibilities for concrete 3D printing are waiting to be developed
[47]. Future printing methods may be possible with no theo-
retical size limit or dependence on human builders. The for-
mer can be realized by a swarm of autonomous flying drones
and the latter by Aerial-ABM, which aims to achieve that
while building full-scale autonomous structures in remote
areas [48]. Much more possibilities are rising, and the proto-
types could already be included in the present 102 cases.
4.4 Printing products
Currently identified products in decreasing numbers were
whole buildings [49], building components such as wall and
panel [31], beam [5, 45] and building element block [10, 50],
specimen for testing and experiment [51, 52], structure for a
building or light show skeleton [53, 54], architectural model
Int J Adv Manuf Technol

Table 3 3D printing methods in the R&D stage

Developed for research purposes Developed for commercial purposes

Singapore Center for 3D prinng 3 Winsun 4

WASP 3 AMT-SPECAVIA 2

Dresden University of Technology 2 Cybe R 3DP 2

(CONPrint3D)

Gramazio Kohler Research 2 KamerMaker 2

Oak Ridge Naonal Laboratory 2 Apis Cor 1

(BAAM system)

Queen’s University Belfast & 2 Autodesk 1

Universite Blaise Pascal

Technical University of Eindhoven 2 Cazza X1 1

University of Nantes 2 Chorogenesis 1

3DBuilder 1 Huashang Tengda 1

Ariel ABM 1 Imprimere AG BIG 1

ATHLETE robot (NASA) 1 MX3D 1

[55], pavilion [27], service [56], infrastructure [57], model for
testing [58], formwork [59], prototype [60], sculpture [61],
and tower [62]. Among all (136 products), 54 products were
whole buildings, which take up 40%. Together with 25 com-
ponents and 18 specimens, three of them make up more than
70% of all products.
The products can be divided into two groups, one for re-
search purposes and the other for project use. The grouping of
the products for research purposes and project use is shown in
Tables 6 and 7, respectively.
All four standard concrete 3D printing techniques can pro-
duce buildings or building parts. UHPC 3D printing produces
two iconic products. One is an optimized external supporting
wall with an emphasis on thermal insulation. The wall geom-
etry was optimized by reducing the structural contacts to a few
points to limit the overall heat transfer between inner and outer
faces. Another is an acoustic damping wall element with
different hole geometries, which enhance the soundproofing
properties of the element, as shown in Fig. 7a [13]. Both
elements are very challenging to make by conventional con-
struction methods. The representative building product of con-
crete printing is a wall-like artifact named Wonder Bench, as
shown in Fig. 7b. It has a length of 2 m, a width of 0.9 m, and a
height of 0.8 m, and its weight is approximately 1 ton. Apart
from a layered concave–convex surface featured by additive
manufacturing, the included 12 voids are its major renovation.
The voids can minimize weight and provide acoustic pur-
poses, thermal insulation, and path for other building services.
They enable post placement of reinforcement, tensioned, and
grouted to realize direct manufacture of large construction
components [45]. The voids can be made into various sizes
and shapes to follow the curve shape of the product, which is
very labor-intensive for traditional construction. The inventor
of contour crafting, Khoshnevis, printed a concrete wall, while

Laboratoire de Genie civil et 1 Tam Tean & Jared Shier
geoEnvironnement (LGCgE) &
University of Balamand
MIT 1 Zachary Schoch
Polytechnic Instute of Leiria 1
RMIT 1
University of Tokyo 1
University of Bath 1
University of Southern California 1
Yonsei University 1
other products were also produced, without mentioning “con-
tour crafting” [63]. The products include a 6-story building
printed by a Chinese company, WinSun Decoration Design
Engineering [16], as shown in Fig. 7c, and a hotel by Andrey
Rudenko [3D concrete house printer]. Apart from buildings,
Khoshnevis foresees contour crafting to produce wind turbine
towers, silos, and chimneys. The technique eliminates human
tasks at risky elevations under windy conditions and brings
the possibility of building much taller towers. In addition,
lunar and Martian structures can be built with contour crafting
using local materials before the arrival of human beings [64].
D-shape is unique among the four standard concrete 3D
printing methods and even among the multiple methods listed
in Tables 3 and 4. It uses binder jetting printers to bind gran-
ular materials into a shape. Due to its unique technique, D-
shape opens more possibilities in product forms. Their build-
ing products include an urban temple prototype with an open-
cell design in fluid form and a concept design to print moon
base with lunar regolith, as well as a house in one piece con-
taining a bathroom, a kitchen, and a bedroom with a size of 2.4
m by 4 m. Figure 8a shows the concept design of a “nearly
zero visual impact architecture”–shaped villa mimicking the
wind-milled shapes of granite rocks. Figure 8b is the 3D-
printed building blocks to be assembled on-site, but the pro-
ject was terminated as permission was not granted by the local
authority [12].
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
1
1
Apart from buildings for daily use, 3D printing has also
been applied for special occasions. Four typical examples
identified from the academic and nonacademic resources are
subsea drilling unit, lunar habitat, emergency housing, and
complicated building component. The subsea drilling unit is
for ocean mining in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, where
new energy resources are present. 3D printing is proposed to
build the foundation, cylindrical part, and dome of the units
[65]. For lunar habitat, an inflatable structure will be covered
by 3D-printed regolith to shield from solar radiation [66]. The
University of Nantes developed an INNOprint 3D printer to
build emergency housing that is insulated, sealed, and safe to
live in just 30 min [28]. A decorative sheath for a canopy on
the roof of the refurbished 6 Bevis Marks office building in
central London was manufactured by construction 3D printing
[67]. The esthetics requirements combined with a complex
shape are hard to achieve by traditional manufacturing
methods.
4.5 Printing system
A review of past and ongoing construction 3D printing pro-
jects reveals that research is focused on robot development
and hardware improvement [64], as well as material modifi-
cation [68]. However, a fully automated and reliable building
Int J Adv Manuf Technol

Table 4 Generic and concrete-specific standard 3D printing methods

Standard 3D prinng machine Selecve Laser Melng printer SLM 1

Machine type Prinng No. Selecve Laser Sintering SLS 1

method printer

Denso robot 6-Axis Robot 2 Series 1 desktop printer by FDM 1

Type A Machines

V2 Vesta Gantry 2 Ulmaker 3 Extended FDM 1

BetAbram P1 Gantry 1 Z-corporaon 3D printer Binder 1

jeng

CNC wood router Subtracve 1 Standard concrete 3D prinng technology

cung

Connex 350 3D printer Material 1 Technology Material No.

jeng type

Fused Deposion FDM 1 Contour Craing Concrete 7

Modeling printer paste

KUKA roboc arm 6-Axis robot 1 D-shape powder 6

MakerBot FDM 1 UHPC 3D Prinng UHPC paste 3

Project CJP 660 Pro Binder jeng 1 Concrete Prinng Concrete 1

paste

Table 5 Technological details of four standard concrete 3D printing techniques

3D printing technology Topology Print process Print resolution (layer depth) Deposition head mounting Print location Temporary
supports

Contour crafting 2.5D Paste extrusion ~13 mm Crane-mounted On-site No

D-shape 3D Powder 4–6 mm Gantry based Off-site Yes
deposition
Concrete printing 3D Paste extrusion 4–6 mm Gantry based Off-site Yes
UHPC 3D printing 3D Paste extrusion 20 mm (width) Robotic arm Off-site No

Table 6 Construction 3D printing products for research purposes
Product No. Description
Specimen 18 Specimen for experiment
Architectural model 7 Architectural model
Model 2 Including model for educational and testing purpose
Prototype 1 Prototype
construction system also needs the development of printing
systems [69].
In the last decade, material extrusion systems such as mor-
tar printing [5, 70, 71], Freefab [72], contour crafting [43, 63],
and robotic printing system for UHPC [13] were developed.
Those extrusion systems differ in object scale, extrusion scale,
environment, assembly, support, and robotic complexity.
Duballet et al. [47] have developed a classification of the
building systems based on those differences.
Apart from material extrusion systems, some recent studies
combined additive manufacturing with BIM. For example,
Ding et al. [73] explored a new BIM-based automated con-
struction system, which was composed of a numerical control
program generating system and an execution setup. The for-
mer part converts BIM model layer data to specific computer
numerical control codes. Then, the latter part is driven by the
codes to manufacture building components that have the same
size as those built using the BIM models [73]. BIM data can
also be utilized for the robotic prefabrication process. Li et al.
[74] proposed a method to provide detailed information to
improve the accuracy and efficiency of automated
manufacturing and prefabrication of wood panels.
The potential advantages of using BIM for construction 3D
printing have been mentioned before [73, 75]. However, ma-
jor challenges remain, such as a lack of data interoperability
between BIM platforms and construction 3D printing systems.
For example, to make the most of new opportunities from an
automated construction system, efforts are needed to custom-
ize and extend BIM platforms. Davtalab proposed a frame-
work to integrate BIM technology with concrete 3D printing
to strengthen the interoperation between the two parts by an-
alyzing the details of different components. The goal is to
maximize the benefits through the synergy between the two
technologies [69].
There are also printing systems that can improve the effi-
ciency of the construction 3D printing process. Perrot et al.
[76] proposed a theoretical framework to find the highest
building rate for the layerwise concrete additive manufactur-
ing extrusion technique inspired by 3D printing technologies.
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
Material No.
Cementitious materials 16
Polymer 1
Space material 1
Polymer 2
Not stated 5
Polymer 1
Not stated 1
Not stated 1
This theoretical framework is based on the comparison of the
vertical stress acting on the first deposited layer with a critical
stress related to plastic deformation that is linked to the mate-
rial yield stress [76].
5 Nontechnical readiness for construction 3D
printing
The application of 3D printing in the construction industry is
still in its infancy [77]. Many studies have been performed to
develop technical aspects, but nontechnical ones are
overlooked. Nontechnical driving forces and hindrances are
important for the applications of construction 3D printing.
5.1 Driving forces
The construction industry is facing serious problems, such as
high accident rates at construction sites, low-quality work,
project management at construction sites, low labor efficien-
cy, and lack of skilled workers [78]. It is expected that apply-
ing 3D printing technology in construction can help to solve
many problems, such as “low labor efficiency, high accident
rate (loss of lives), and too much manpower necessary for
construction site control and surveillance”[37]. Saving form-
work also implies a huge saving. In addition, applying con-
struction 3D printing could possibly bring environmental ben-
efits, save time, and improve esthetic values. They are all
driving forces for the application of 3D printing in the con-
struction sector.
5.1.1 Cost
For a new concrete construction project, slightly more than
half of the total cost is attributed to formwork labor, followed
by 30% from concrete materials, 10% from formwork mate-
rials, and 7% from concrete materials, as shown in Fig. 9 [79].
Using construction 3D printing implies eliminating form-
works. Many believed the successful application of 3D
Int J Adv Manuf Technol

Table 7 Construction 3D printing products

Product No. Description Material No.

Building 54 Including various forms, i.e., cabin, castle, clubhouse, courtyard, and villa, and for different usage, i.e., Cementitious 19
emergency housing, space habitat, office, hotel, restroom, and temple materials
Space material 7
Polymer 5
Recycled waste 5
Sand 5
Wood 2
Sheet 1
Soil 1
Not stated 9
Building 25 Including load-bearing and non-load-bearing components: beam, brick, polybrick, decorative sheath, Cementitious 16
component dome, facade, floor, plinth, wall, and wind turbine blades materials
Polymer 3
Soil 2
Metal 1
Wood 1
Not stated 2
Skeleton 11 Skeleton for building and lightshow Algea 1
Cementitious 2
materials
Polymer 4
Polymer/metal 1
Rock (with 1
thread)
Not stated 2
Pavilion 6 Tent and canopy Cementitious 2
material
Polymer 2
Sea salt 1
Not stated 1
Service 5 Service to provide printing products as required Cementitious 4
material
Polymer 1
Transportation 4 Including bridge and landing pad Cementitious 2
facilities material
Metal 1
Space material 1
Formwork 1 Formwork for concrete Polymer 1
Sculpture 1 Sculpture for demonstration Sand 1
Tower 1 A uniquely shaped tower, a scale replica from TV show Cementitious 1
material

printing in the construction industry will impact the total cost
of construction dramatically [81]. According to Jha, adopting
construction 3D printing could reduce 63% of costs, which are
incurred by formwork. Malaeb et al. [71] believed using 3D
printing could reduce 35–60% of the overall construction cost
due to the removal of formwork. As a result, the cost for a full-
scale house printed by Winsun was as low as USD 4800 [82]
and a 400-square-feet-home by Apis Cor cost only USD
10,000 [75]. The typical cost distribution for new concrete
construction projects with traditional construction and 3D
printing methods is shown in Fig. 9. The 3D printing data
were obtained from a construction 3D printing project per-
formed by Zhengzhou Dingsheng Co. Ltd, China, as shown
in Fig. 10. The 3D printing energy accounted for 0.2% of the
total cost and thus was negligible (Fig. 9).
Due to the elimination of formwork, costs per unit for ad-
ditive manufactured products are constant. On the other hand,
the cost per unit for traditional manufactured projects

Fig. 7 a Acoustic damping wall element by UHPC 3D printing [13]. b Wonder Bench by concrete printing [45]. c Six-story building by contour crafting
by WinSun Decoration Design Engineering [16]
decreases as the production volume increases since the form-
work cost is shared by many products [83]. So, adopting ad-
ditive manufacturing to produce unique products is more eco-
nomical, such as producing a prototype. Since each building is
a unique prototype, construction 3D printing is highly possi-
ble to reduce construction costs.
Cost is a critical aspect in choosing which technology to
use [83]. Therefore, reducing the cost of additive manufactur-
ing will lead to the more frequent use of the technology and
reach the goal of mass customization. Utilizing waste or
recycled materials as the primary raw material to produce
3D printing cementitious material is a method to greatly re-
duce material costs. In promoting prefabrication, the key issue
is to find potential low-cost techniques, such as using recycled
materials [84]. Like prefabrication, construction 3D printing is
also a construction automation technique. Using recycled
waste materials can improve its cost-effective potential [80].
However, cost reduction has not been studied so far.
5.1.2 Safety
Adopting 3D printing in construction can reduce the amount
of labor [85]. Based on that, the Singapore government
Fig. 8 a Design of a “nearly zero visual impact architecture” using D-shape [12]. b Building block printed by D-shape [12]
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
believes that the technology will help the country to be less
dependent on foreign labor [86]. As the amount of labor re-
duces, a lower chance of injuries can be expected. Sakin et al.
[75] believe injuries and fatalities on construction sites will
decrease if 3D printing is adopted in the construction sector; in
addition, labor costs will reduce by 50–80%.
5.1.3 Time
Construction 3D printing can improve the construction rate
and reduce time. Sakin et al. [75] reported a 400-square-foot
home being built in just 24 h. The Chinese company Winsun
has printed 10 full-scale houses in less than 24 h [87]. A model
to simulate construction with contour crafting predicted print-
ing a 200 m2 custom-designed house in less than 20 h. The
model also showed that building the same house with a con-
ventional construction method can take almost three times
longer than that built by contour crafting because installing
and removing formwork takes much time, as well as waiting
for concrete to set before being able to continue working [88].
Saving time is especially beneficial for cold areas, where con-
struction automation can speed up the work [89].
Int J Adv Manuf Technol

additive manufacturing. Apart from Isolda’s study, to the best

of our knowledge, the quantification of environmental bene-
fits of construction 3D printing and its cost, time, or safety
aspects have yet to be investigated. A systematic study on the
potential benefits can foster the eagerness to adopt the tech-
nology. The studies and life cycle analysis on prefabrication
have successfully contributed to the steadily increasing appli-
cation of the construction automation technique in construc-
tion [94]. It can be inferred that systematic studies on the

Fig. 9 Typical cost distribution for a new concrete construction project

by traditional construction [79, 80] and 3D printing methods (according
to the project shown in Fig. 10)

5.1.4 Environmental benefits

The construction industry is responsible for one-third of the

earth’s resource consumption [90] and 7% of global CO2
emissions [91]. Construction 3D printing can minimize pollu-
tion by reducing construction waste by 30–60% [75]. Kim
et al. [92] hold a more optimistic point of view. They predicted
that 3D printing technology could reduce CO2 and construc-
tion waste by 75% and 86%, respectively, compared to those
obtained by conventional construction [92].

5.2 Hindrances

Although construction automation has attracted much atten-

tion, some researchers believe that 3D printing is a comple-
mentary technology in the construction sector and will not
eliminate the current ones [59]. Huge capital investment and
lacking building codes make it hard to apply construction 3D
printing in practice. However, the key lies in missing incen-
tives, i.e., the industry is not aware of its benefits as no sys-
tematic study has been conducted to quantify them. If the
perceived benefits are proved, construction professionals will
be driven to adopt the technology.

5.2.1 No systematic study on the benefits

Although many benefits have been identified for the adoption

of construction 3D printing, such as the aforementioned re-
duced cost and time, improved safety and environmental ben-
efits, and new architectural liberties, few studies have been
performed to quantify the benefits. Some have predicted the
environmental benefits of digital fabrication, such as Kohtala
et al. [93]. Isolda et al. [26] assessed the environmental im-
pacts of a wall constructed by conventional and digital fabri- Fig. 10 Real-world construction 3D printing and dimensions (mm) by
cation techniques and confirmed the environmental benefits of Taikonghui, Zhengzhou Dingsheng Co., Ltd., P. R. China

potential benefits of applying construction 3D printing can
also accelerate its applications.
5.2.2 Lack of governmental support
Some countries such as Singapore are promoting construction
3D printing to change construction processes and improve
construction productivity [86]. The Singapore government
plans to utilize the technology in assembling the city’s future
public housing [81]. The idea is to use large-scale 3D printers
to print one story at a time before transporting and stacking
each floor on-site [95]. As a result, The Singapore center for
3D printing was established and received government and
industry funding as high as $107.7 million [86]. China is
promoting 3D-printed buildings. Recently, many provinces
have started construction 3D printing projects. Zhejiang prov-
ince set up a Shining3D 3D printing and 3D digitization de-
velopment and industrialization base [96]. Shangdong
Province is building a “world-building park” for 3D-printed
buildings. It is planned to host 10,000 3D printed buildings
and will be the world’s largest 3D printing building group
[97]. Xinjiang province is the home to the first case to adopt
the 3D-printed building in China. Four uniquely shaped struc-
tures on the square of the high-speed railway station in
Wulumuqi, which is the capital city of Xinjiang, are steel-
reinforced concrete boards made by 3D printing [98]. These
projects were initiated by the government, reflecting strong
support of the Chinese government to construct 3D printing.
Apart from Singapore and China, no other governments have
been reported to support the adoption of 3D printing in the
construction industry.
5.2.3 Missing building codes
The 3D printing technology has gained recognition from the
industry but lacks a standard for its applications. The former
counselor of the Chinese state council, the former secretary
general of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology,
Shi, believes that a national building code for construction 3D
printing should be made as soon as possible. This building
code should be not only for a company, a region, or an indus-
try, but it should be a national, even international standard so
that this technique could be promoted in the construction in-
dustry [89]. For China, setting up a building code is also in
accordance with the “Building Energy Saving and Green
Building Development Plan” within the Chinese 13th five-
year plan. The plan encourages making building codes on
green buildings’ design, construction, inspection, assessment,
and reconstruction [99]. As the technology becomes more
mature, its possible contributions to green construction are
recognized, and making a building code on 3D printed build-
ings can be expected in the future.
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
6 Conclusions
In this systematic literature review, we provided a general
mapping of the state-of-the-art adoption of 3D printing in
construction and evaluated the technology readiness from
both technical and nontechnical points of view. In this way,
the obstacles and challenges for its adoption were identified.
Both technical and nontechnical hindrances are present, such
as no systematic study on the benefits, little governmental
support, and missing building codes. Therefore, we propose
the following developments for future research:
Among the four technical aspects of 3D printing, printing
products are the most developed as researchers and practitioners
have many innovative ideas. However, innovative applications
require support from the other three technological aspects. To
meet future needs of enormous opportunities, construction 3D
printing needs more suitable materials, more variable printing
methods, and more advanced printing systems. Recycled mate-
rials could be used to reduce construction costs and further
encourage the incentive to adopt construction 3D printing.
Developing printing methods could be possible for construction
3D printing. The building system classification for concrete 3D
printing done by Duballet et al. [47] can be taken as a reference
for developing highly versatile methods in terms of object scale,
extrusion scale, environment, assembly, support, and robotic
complexity. Developing more advanced printing systems is
recommended to improve the printing efficiency and strengthen
the data interoperability between BIM platforms and automated
construction systems; thus, construction 3D printing can make
the most of the benefits of BIM technology.
In terms of the development of printing products, maximiz-
ing the benefits of 3D printing in construction has not been
addressed. Identifying best practices will help construction 3D
printing to reach its potential benefits, such as saving time and
money, increasing safety and environmental protection, and
pave the way for new applications and architectural
possibilities.
A systematic study on the benefits of adopting construction
3D printing can help the industry and government to under-
stand its potential. This study can provide insights into tech-
nological developments in the field for decision bodies.
Currently, possible environmental, time, and cost benefits of
the technology on the construction industry have never been
quantified.
The impacts of the technology on the construction industry
must be quantified. The preferred outcome is the benefits been
proved and the construction sector can make the most of its
technological advantages and eventually achieves mass cus-
tomization of construction products.
Support from the governmental level, be it regulative or
economical, can accelerate technological adoption. Only
Singaporean and Chinese governments have been reported
to support construction 3D printing with government funds.
Int J Adv Manuf Technol
In Western countries, companies think highly of 3D printing,
such as the McKinsey Global Institute. Universities in
Western countries are also active in the construction of 3D
printing research, and universities such as TU Eindhoven in
the Netherlands, the University of Nantes in France, and the
University of Southern California in the USA have collabo-
rated with companies. However, no government support has
been provided for the technology. To receive governmental
support, the potentials of the technology need to be recog-
nized. Both technical development and systematic study on
its impacts can contribute to the recognition of its potential.
Currently, there are no building codes on construction 3D
printing projects worldwide. Missing building codes di-
rectly eliminate the possibility of widespread application
in practice. Regulations are usually for mature technolo-
gies. For new ones, the government is not capable of mak-
ing regulations yet. So, making building codes also de-
pends on realizing technological development.
Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary
material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-021-07213-0.
Author contributions Yifan Pan: conceptualization; methodology; re-
sources; analysis; writing—original draft; writing—review and editing
Yulu Zhang: methodology; resources; analysis; writing—review and
editing
Dakang Zhang: analysis; writing—review and editing
Yuying Song: writing—figure and table draft
Availability of data and materials The authors confirm that the data
supporting the findings of this study are available within the article and
its supplementary materials.
Declarations
Ethical approval Not applicable
Consent to participate Not applicable
Consent for publication All the authors give their consents for the pub-
lication of identifiable details, which can include photographs and/or
videos and/or case history and/or details within the text to be published
in the above Journal and Article.
Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests.
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