Three dimensional (3D) printing’ is defined as a technology to use a 3D modeling designed by a computer or a solid state of model data produced by a digital 3D scanner and to convert into a physical model which is directly touchable by hand through a mechanically stacked formation (layer by layer).
The 3D printing technology was invented by Charles W. Hull in US, and the first commercial 3D printing equipment was made available in 1988. For the last 26 years it has made a rapid development in many areas such as processing, material, software and related infrastructure, so as to emerge as a key technology that will bring an innovation in conventional manufacturing processes and a great change in future life that we never imagined in the past.
The biggest change in the manufacturing industry is to make a mold production of any shape possible, which was impossible in the past without the 3D printing technology, if a 3D digital modeling process of the shape is possible. In addition, the initial level of modeling techniques now available has reached to a level of making a directly usable product, so as to properly make a 1:1 customized production or a small quantity batch production for a variety of products in near future. These phenomena will be reflected as an increase in the number of pro-sumers and individual manufacturing enterprises who make production and consumption at the same time. On top of it, an easy digital data storage and transformation and a long-distance transportation innovation will bring an economic benefit soon by significantly reducing the heavy long-distance shipping and warehousing costs that result from the traditional manufacturing supply chain logistics. The 3D printing technology is also an essential technology to meet the environmentally safe management bases like global lowcarbon green growth and sustainable production movements for the protection of global environment.
Currently, approximately 20 kinds of 3D printing methods and systems are in active use, including some exemplary schemes like SLA, SLS, FDM, DLP, POLYJET, etc. along with a variety of materials like metal, plastic, rubber, silicon, wood, ceramic and concrete. Recently, bio-diverse and human 3D printing researches have been on-going to make human body tissue, skin, blood vessels and even organs. Besides, a food printer has also appeared to 3D digitally print foods like chocolate, cookies, pizza, etc. The prevalence of a diffusion-type printer give wings to the rapid popularization of 3D printing technology in many application fields.
Those applications of the 3D printing technology are in a very wide range covering electrical and electronic consumer products, automotive, aerospace, medical and dental devices, military equipment, architectural models and education tools. In particular, the present discussion is made specifically in the field of architectural BIM (Building Information Modeling) and its related 3D printing technology on which an active research has been made recently. Additionally, the 3D printing technology is developed from a level of the past architectural modeling production up to that of the current and future architectural buildings where moon rocks are used to make a moon base construction. Therefore, in this paper new possibilities of the 3D printing technology are studied on future architecture and construction fields, manufacturing of plastic and metal subsidiary materials and setting-up of concrete buildings using the concrete printer.