- The world’s first on-site 3D printed large water tanks have been constructed in Kuwait by Abyan using a COBOD 3D construction printer and achieving a 25% savings on the amount of concrete and reinforcement used compared to casted tanks.
- Benefitting from the speed and design freedom of 3D construction printing the tanks can be made faster, more economical, and sustainable than when using traditional formwork.
- The tanks with 4,5m in height and a diameter of 7m were 3D printed with low cost concrete in just 5 days and only contained macro fibers for the reinforcement of the tank walls and no traditional reinforcement meshes.
- The end customer was very pleased with the fast delivery and wants to have more 3D printed tanks in the future.
The tanks were printed with a low-cost real C40/50 concrete mixed on-site using the D.fab solution and related printing equipment invented by CEMEX and COBOD, where 99% of all raw materials used are locally sourced. To further increase the speed of execution, Abyan insisted on using macro fibers for the reinforcement of the concrete. Macro fibers have not been used for reinforcement of 3D printed real-life structural constructions before, so the requirements from Abyan presented a real challenge. Henrik Lund-Nielsen, Founder & General Manager of COBOD said: “Abyan pursues real innovations, which we really want to support and they wanted to try to avoid using any hard reinforcement in the walls, and just add fibers to the concrete. Of course, this challenged us a lot, but together with Cemex, the three of us were able to find a very good solution, which now can be replicated elsewhere in the future”.
Abyan’s willingness to be innovative and try out new solutions is a consequence of the scientific background of the CEO and co-founder of Abyan, Dr. Ahmad Al-Nassem, who is a professor of structural engineering at Kuwait University. Dr. Ahmad Al-Nassem said: “It is in the DNA of Abyan to be innovative. Abyan is wholeheartedly committed to revolutionizing the construction industry at large by integrating cutting-edge 3D printing technology within concrete construction along with innovative solutions in design and construction materials, bringing forth a new era of efficiency and sustainability. So, when all of our calculations showed that with 0,95% macro fibers in the concrete, we could remove all hard reinforcement of the tank walls, we were keen to prove this new design concept with a real-life project”.
The two tanks were printed for Kuwait United Poultry Company and will be used for chicken drinking water at one of their many chicken farms in Kuwait. Due to the cost and time savings realized in the project, Kuwait United Poultry Company is keen to continue 3D constructing printing for tanks in the future. Mr. Muhammad Al-Hussain said: “We are very happy about the results of this project and for the huge savings in time. We will surely repeat this method in the future and get more 3D printed tanks for our many chicken farms”.