JGC CORPORATION (Representative Director and President: Farhan Majib), which operates the overseas engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) business of the JGC Group, has installed a gantry-style concrete construction 3D printer purchased from COBOD International A/S of Denmark since October 2021, at the construction site of a biomass power generation plant that JGC JAPAN CORPORATION, which operates the domestic EPC business of the JGC Group, has been executing in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture, as part of a demonstration project for the full-scale introduction of 3D printers in construction work. We are pleased to announce that we were the first Japanese company to apply foundation formwork printed outdoors using locally procured common materials, and that various other promising results have been obtained.

A) First Japanese company to apply outdoor printed foundation formwork using locally procured common materials
Until now, the use of 3D printers in construction work has involved the use of special pre-mixed mortars developed exclusively for this purpose, but we have demonstrated the feasibility of outdoor printing of mortar and concrete foundation formwork mixed on-site, using common materials such as the cement and aggregate which are easily available at construction sites. In June 2022, the company became the first Japanese company to apply this technology to the piping support structure of a biomass power generation plant in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture.

B) Shows good prospects for significant reduction in formwork construction time
The application of 3D printed formwork eliminates the on-site formwork assembly and demolding work required when using the conventional methods, thereby shortening the formwork construction time. As a result of this verification, we calculated that it would take around 8 days with a refined form of the 3D printed formwork compared with the 16 days taken with the conventional method including backfilling.

C) Aiming to introduce a 3D printer that does not depend on specialized personnel
In addition to training junior employees dispatched as support workers to become familiar with emerging technologies such as the 3D printer, training was conducted to enable them to operate the 3D printer within about one week. We aim to introduce 3D printers that do not require specialized and professionally trained personnel.

The demonstration at the construction site of the biomass power generation plant in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture, was completed at the end of June 2022, and the 3D printer was located to Ibaraki Prefecture from July to continue evaluating the effectiveness of on-site printing using locally available and common materials.

By continuing the on-site verification, we plan to reduce manpower requirements and the construction period by on-site printing at future construction sites, as well as reduce costs and hedge the risk of overseas procurement by using locally available materials at overseas sites.

In addition to cementitious materials, we aim to introduce 3D printers for metallic and resinous materials in construction projects, in collaboration with domestic and overseas companies that possess innovative technologies.

3D Printer Installed Outdoors　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Mounting of 3D Printed Foundation Formwork

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