A FEASIBILITY STUDY ON CONSTRUCTION 3D PRINTING TECHNOLOGY IN SINGAPORE'S CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

Abstract

Construction 3D printing is a relatively new technology in the construction sector as compared to their manufacturing counterparts. There is little knowledge data available in the construction industry pertaining to this technology. There is a lack of diversification in 3DP research and most of the completed studies are mainly focused on the technology development and application. There is no existing study with regards to management in construction 3D printing in the industry today.. As the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore (BCA) has identified construction 3D printing as a Tier 2 technology in the Research and Development Roadmap in March 2016, there is a rising interest in construction 3D printing technology in Singapore. Thus, there is a demand to examine the technology readiness through understanding how industry practitioners perceive and adopt it. This study is part of a feasibility study research to determine the most feasible construction 3D printing application in Singapore. A structured interview and a rigorous set of questionnaire providing the evaluation of 10 shortlisted construction 3D printing applications with 31 construction professionals was carried out. The findings indicates that the most feasible construction 3D printing applications were concrete based 3D printing applications due to the high level of familiarity with concrete as a construction material and also revealed the industry is open to new constructions materials to be adopted, such as concrete. It also revealed the role that the government and top level management staff have in the successful implementation of the identified construction 3D printing technology.