Precise linear bearings for high-performance XXL 3D printer for house façades

Profile

• What was needed: drylin multi-axis linear robots, drylin toothed belt axes, dryspin lead screw technology, igubal spherical bearing technology, energy chains
• Requirements: For the 3D XXL printer "Kamermaker 2.0" components with high precision had to be found that allow high speed
• Industry: 3D printer
• Success for the customer: On the self-lubricating linear systems, the print head now moves precisely and at high speed to enable high performance of the 3D printer.

Entire components of the house of the EU Presidency were made in this 3D printer.

Problem

The Dutch architecture firm DUS has implemented the idea of building entire houses using 3D printing. And that's with a mobile 3D printer in XXL format, which has to be housed in a sea container due to its size.
In the building process, the load-bearing structures can be made from biodegradable plastic recyclate - a sustainable use.
Under the term "Kamermaker 2.0" (literally the 'House builder' 2.0), this idea is very popular in the Dutch media.
To turn the idea into reality, DUS founded the company Actual. The builder can now design building elements on a digital platform, which are then produced on site on XXL 3D printers.
In the spirit of modern networking, Actual has sought partners to help the "Kamermaker 2.0" quickly become a success. As one of these partners, we helped optimise the design of the mobile 3D printer. The first generation of the printer had a separate room for the control and could therefore produce "only" parts up to a size of 2.00 x 2.00 x 3.00 metres. There was thus a need for optimisation, both in terms of precision and printing speed.

Solution

Our engineers co-developed new axes on which the print head travels. In doing so, they used their expertise in additive manufacturing: conventional 3D printers from several manufacturers use our drylin linear axes, and we also operate our own 3D printers in manufacturing to produce customised sliding elements from iglidur filaments.
During project planning, the engineers used our modular system of drylin multi-axis linear robots. They are available as line, flat and room linear robots, i.e. for one, two and three axes, and travel over predefined areas and spaces (Picture 2). In this case, a room linear robot is used, where the x- and y-axes were implemented with drylin toothed belt units and the z-axis with dryspin lead screw/nut systems.
On the self-lubricating linear systems, the print head moves precisely via complete toothed belt systems, which we supply ready for installation (Picture 3). Our drives with position detection are also used for the lead screw nuts that position the linear robot in height.
In addition, other components from our modular construction system for plain bearings and linear systems were also installed, e.g. igubal pillow block bearings. And to safely guide the cables for signals and electrical power to the print head, Actual relies on our plastic energy chains.

Our drylin product range includes ready-to-install linear robots for one, two and three axes with drives and sensors for position detection.

View inside of the mobile 3D printer, which can print parts up to 2.50 x 2.50 x 6.50 metres in size. The print head moves on a drylin axis with toothed belt drive.

"Stone on stone" was yesterday: The 3D printer prints the construction elements on site.