Development of Sustainable Production Technology of Free-Form Concrete Panels Using a Multi-Point Press CNC Machine

Abstract

Maintaining shape accuracy in the production of concrete panels of free-form buildings is time-consuming and costly. In addition, disposable molds used for free-form panels are not sustainable. Such problems can be solved by developing a suitable computerized numeric control (CNC) machine that can produce an accurately shaped reusable form for free-form concrete materials in a short period of time. This project develops a production technology of quality free-form concrete panels using a CNC machine and verifies the shape quality through an experiment. We designed a multi-point press CNC machine and verified its quality. The CNC machine implements a smooth free-form shape by changing the shape of the silicon plate by movement of the rods. The silicone plate for the CNC machine generates a slight error due to the elastic cover and mechanical clearance. The mean error rate was within 3%, based on the thickness of the panels, at the 95% confidence level. Verification of these errors will provide meaningful information to a similar type of machine development. In addition, the project results will be helpful in technological development for the production of free-form concrete panels of uniform quality, whose shape accuracy is not influenced by the skills and competence of the workers producing the panels.