3D Concrete Printing — CyBe Construction Skip to main content
We redefine construction

3D Concrete Printing

CyBe Construction is an ambitious, award-winning tech company, established in 2013. We redefine construction by enabling 3D Concrete Printing for all clients throughout the industry. We provide hardware, software and material to simplify the complex building processes. We guide the industry through education, certification and business development.

  • Technology

    3D concrete printers

    CyBe Construction redefines construction by enabling 3D Concrete Printing for all clients throughout the industry. We provide hardware – 3D printers – software and material to simplify the complex building processes.

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    A 3D concrete printing technician oversees a CyBe Construction 3D concrete printing project
  • Technology

    CyBe Mortar

    We strongly believe that one integrated system combining hardware, software and material is key. As a result, we have co-developed CyBe MORTAR specifically for the application of 3D concrete printing.

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    CyBe MORTAR - CyBe Construction
  • Technology

    CyBe Construction Center

    Discover our new CyBe Construction Centers (CCCs): automated housing factories where we leverage additive manufacturing for modular, circular, net-zero construction.

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    CyBe Construction Center
  • Technology

    Software

    An aligned combination of hardware and software results in an integrated system, which enables partners to develop their own material.

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    Software developer vacancy
  • Education

    CyBe Academy

    In addition to offering hardware, software and materials, we also offer a learning platform. Depending on where your interest lies, or what you want to learn, you can scroll through our various courses covering a wide range of aspects of 3D concrete printing.

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    Learning Development- CyBe Construction

    3D Concrete printing

    At CyBe Construction, we provide solutions for affordable housing to the construction industry. What started as a fascination of building and innovation has grown to an independent company providing solutions for building projects quicker, cheaper and more sustainable.

    The construction industry benefits greatly from 3D concrete printers for building affordable housing, as it is a means to an end during the current global housing shortage.
    We provide the hardware, software and material to simplify the complex building processes. But also we guide our customers through the route towards affordable housing through education, certification and business development.
    Thanks to short cycle times, rapid changeovers, and consistent precision, our 3D printing technology is the perfect answer to your building challenge.

    3D Concrete Printing technology

    If you are a future-focused company in the construction industry, you’ve probably heard something about 3D concrete printing. It’s an efficient method of building that minimizes materials and labor costs and maximizes production.
    On top of that, it can also pave the way for a construction sector with more sustainability by incorporating more clever designs and optimized use of materials. Particularly in a housing shortage period, 3D concrete printers bring incredible value to the construction industry.

    How does 3D concrete printing work?

    3D concrete printers create structures layer-by-layer based on programmed input. CyBe’s printers use CyBe’s Chysel and Artysan software , which prepare 3D models for the printer and control the printing. The input from the software guides the printer, which positions itself and its printer nozzle in the correct location at the correct time. The mix-pump system moves CyBe Mortar through a concrete pump hose to the robotic arm, while the printer constantly moves from coordinate to coordinate while extruding a steady stream of concrete.
    Depending on the size of the structure, concrete mortars with varying set-times are used. For wall elements, a fast-drying mortar is ideal. CyBe’s specially developed, fast-drying CyBe Mortar sets in 3–5 minutes. One wall element can be printed within 1–2 hours. This makes it possible to print all the walls of one of our Lyve Design within 2 to 3 days. After 24 hours of hardening, elements can be hoisted and placed at their final location. For printing entire finished modules, a longer set-time is necessary to achieve wet-on-wet connection. Depending on the exact size of the print area, CyBe Mortar Gantry will set within 15–40 minutes.

     

    Las Casitas Round Top

    3D printing technology in construction: how?

    We strongly believe that one integrated system combining hardware, software and material is key in achieving the best results for 3D concrete printing for several purposes.

    Wall elements – Within our Lyve concept our team of designers and architects has developed various designs that are easy to build using the various 3D concrete printing technologies. The method of printing with the CyBe Robotic-line (R-line) printers is done by dividing the design into wall elements. All these wall elements can be printed within 2 to 3 days. After this the next phases of the construction can immediately be done; e.g. roof and water- & air- tightening of the building, placement of doors & windows, the installation of mechanical & electrical services and public sanitation & hygiene facilities.

    CyBe’s principle is to optimize any design to the local regulations, requirements and expectations. As a result it is possible to optimize any concept in insulation, wall thickness, structural principle and local special requirements such as earthquake regulations.

    Modular construction – Our patented concept of Prefabricated Prefinished Volumetric Construction (PPVC) is a construction method we have developed for our CyBe Gantry-line (G-line) printers. This concept consists of free-standing 3-dimensional modules that are completed with internal finishes, fixtures and fittings in an off-site fabrication facility, before it is delivered and installed on-site. We created a living solution that helps you and your environment, as this way of construction we can cut down the cost of gas, water and light to a minimum.
    Artificial reef – Our range is not limited to 3D printers for building houses only, as our printers serve various markets such as coral reef restoration; An incredible solution for our oceans’ main problems. Artificial reefs can produce rapid increases in the growth of algae, coral, and local fish populations. Our material has shown great results of containing certain elements like coral, because of the roughness of the material.

    Manholes – The use of the 3D concrete printing technology for the production of manholes has many benefits. For example, the production time of 3D concrete printed manholes is a lot quicker than traditional because of the fast curing time of the CyBe Mortar. The manholes can be measured by the printing equipment, shared with the printer software and printed within 1 to 2 hours. As a result, this will minimize the required materials and labor costs and will maximize the production.

    Street furniture – The concrete 3D printing technology enables us to offer a variety of efficient, quick, sustainable and affordable solutions for not only construction projects, but also landscaping projects. Both applications can be done with the same printer.
    Art – Another benefit of the 3D concrete printing technology is the design freedom, which makes it also perfectly suitable to create art and abstract design without the need for costly molds.

    What are the benefits?

    Speed is key – With our 3D concrete printing technology, we can build housing projects five times faster than conventional construction. The combination of our 3D concrete printers with the CyBe Mortar allows us to print the wall elements of our Lyve designs within 2 to 3 days. After 24 hours, the printed elements can be hoisted and the building can be finalized.

    More sustainable – Due to the precision of the 3D concrete printer, it only applies the mortar where it’s needed. This means that less material is needed, less waste is produced and therefore less CO2 is emitted. On top of that, the production of our eco-frienly material, CyBe Mortar, emits up to 32% less CO2 than Portland cement.

    Freedom of form – In conventional construction, the formwork determines the shape of concrete when pouring the concrete. 3D concrete printing technology opens up the ability to build complex designs that are otherwise not possible, or too expensive or labor-intensive to create by conventional construction methods..

    Get your own 3D concrete printer

    The first step towards your own 3D concrete printing technology would be to determine the print application that you will be using:

    • On-site or off-site (precast factory)
    • Single-standing buildings or modular units
    • Components or finished modules (such as finished apartments)
    • Complex textures or standard shapes

    The next step would be to have a call to dive deeper into your application, give you an overview of the solutions we offer, answer any questions you may have, and discuss the way forward.

    Subsequently, the following step would be to purchase the 3D concrete printing technology and together set up the local production of the CyBe Mortar.

    After 6 to 9 months, the CyBe 3D printer will be ready for shipment and your future operators will be trained during a 10-day training course by the CyBe Team. To support a continuous learning curve, we also provide online education on our Lybrary to teach your team everything about all aspects of 3D concrete printing, from operational and design levels, all the way up to strategic and tactical levels.

    Our software

    The 3D printers are standardly provided with CyBe Chysel software. Chysel is the ‘slicing’ software used to generate a toolpath from digital 3D models. Within Chysel, you have access to variables relevant for your personalized printing strategy. Some examples of what can be given as input are layer width, layer height and the printing speed.
    It keeps track of already printed objects and ensures that the 3D printer will not collide with these objects.

    Based on the generated toolpath code by Chysel, CyBe Artysan software is used to control the 3D printer and keep track of the 3D print statistics such as printing time, humidity, outside temperature, temperature of the material, rotor stator temperature and the values of the additive during the start-up and printing procedure.

    Save time with parametric design

    A significant amount of time can be saved during the design phase of a building project by employing parametric design.
    Unlike traditional design methods, parametric design allows different components to be easily adjusted. These design components, referred to as parameters or variables, can contain items such as the number of rooms or the positioning of doors and windows. For example, the number of rooms in a building (as one parameter within a design) can be changed, and the other parameters that relate to it (e.g. positioning of doors and windows) will be automatically adjusted to correspond. The parametric design software easily modifies the overall design while calculating the relationships between the various components. It can take a lot of time and effort to manually modify each design element, therefore parametric design is an efficient way of cutting down time and costs on the designing for affordable housing.

    3D concrete printing for your project

    • What are the main benefits of 3D concrete printing?
      3D concrete printing is all about offering a cheaper, quicker, and more sustainable alternative to traditional construction. By automating the construction process, we can provide fast engineering as well as preparation. Additionally, certain steps of the traditional building process can be skipped. These faster timelines reduce your labor hours, significantly lowering your costs. You can also save money on indirect costs, skipped production steps, and material savings. Depending on the project scope, projects can be reduced in cost by up to 70%! 3D printing is also more sustainable than regular construction. Our material, CyBe Mortar, has 30% fewer emissions and can be produced locally. We also use less material and are able to incorporate nature into our prints. Lastly, 3DCP also offers unique design possibilities. Through parametric designing, you can build things that would not have been possible with traditional construction.
    • What are the advantages of 3D concrete printing in comparison to traditional construction methods?
      Your project is done quicker: Traditional construction processes take up a lot of time and labor costs. Due to engineering and preparation time, the construction takes a longer time span than with 3D Concrete printing. Since we are able to automatize this process, the time preparing a print is reduced a lot. You save money: The final costs of 3D concrete printing are lower than with conventional construction. These savings can be up to 70%, depending on the product you want to print. This cost reduction is the result of factors like low labor costs and material costs. More sustainable: 3D printing, with durable material sustainable technology, is far more sustainable than traditional (concrete) construction Greater possibilities: 3Dconcrete printing enables new and other design possibilities, giving architects more freedom in their design.
    • How can concrete 3d printing help the environment?
      3D concrete printing is more environmentally friendly than traditional construction methods. The material used is often more sustainable than regular concrete, and the technique allows for less overall material usage. There is also less waste material, and there are options for local material development. 3DCP also relies on energy as opposed to fossil fuels, and the low print times make the technique energy-efficient. Additionally, by combining Prefabricated Prefinished Volumetric Construction (PPVC) with 3DCP, you’re able to construct modular, net-zero housing units.
    • How does 3D concrete printing work?
      The first step is designing a 3D-model. This can be done with many CAD tools, but we prefer Rhino. We can then convert this model with our own software tool, CyBe CHYSEL, into a digital 3D-model. This digital model, the Gcode, can be read by our printer, so it know where to move. When everything is prepared, we start the print. The print is a two-man-and-a-printer job, where the printer does most of the work. We supply material and control the printing conditions, while the printer makes sure to print your model.
    • 3D printing concrete is becoming more popular, how are these structures reinforced?
      3D printed structures are reinforced with rebar. The rebar can be placed during the printing process, for maximum adhesiveness and speed.
    • Which software does CyBe Construction use and what are the benefits?
      CyBe Construction uses Rhinoceros 3.0 to design models and CyBe CHYSEL to convert this model into a digital file. Rhino gives you all the freedom you need to design your perfect model. Our own software, CHYSEL, makes it easy to see whether this model is printable, and lets the printer know what to do.
    • Is my product or project suitable for 3D concrete printing?
      At the moment there is a vast amount of possibilities for using CyBe’s 3D Concrete printing technology. 3DCP enables free-form design, which makes it possible to build complex forms. We can do a printability analysis to see whether your project is suited for 3D printing. To check if your product or projects is suited all we need is a 3D-model or design. We will verify whether your plans are printable for us.
    • What is the print time per cubic meter?
      Our printers operate up to 500 mm / second, which is currently the fastest print speed on the market! The print time per cubic meter can depend on the design of the object: if the model has lots of small curves, we tend to decrease the speed for a better result.
    • What is the approximate cost of a structure?
      Our Lyve label buildings are specifically designed for 3D concrete printing and start at €800 per square meter. For a detailed cost breakdown of one of our projects, the Robust Villa, please check out the cost indication under downloads, at the bottom of this page.
    • How can I get more information about CyBe’s projects?
      We are proud of all the amazing projects we did around the world, and like to showcase them! We feature our most interesting projects on our website. Please consult the menu at the top to see them!
    • What kind of additional elements and factory preparation is needed for 3D printing?
      In our pre-print checklist, you can find everything necesarry for a print. It outlines the necessary spare parts and all facility requirements. We also help our customers to prepare their facilities, so that the printers are operational shortly after delivery.
    • What is the production capacity of a printer?
      The production capacity depends on the level of difficulty of the element. We recommend printing with a minimum of 2 certified operators to manage 1) the Mix Pump System, 2) the printing process and the overview. In a day, you can do multiple prints, depending on how big the prints are and how fast the preparation process goes. The more often you print, and also the more you repeat a model, the easier the preparation process becomes. With nonstop printing of 2x2m walls, you would be able to print at least 8 wall elements in a day. Of course, if you gain more experience, this number increases dramatically