USC Professor Develops 3-D Construction Device

A professor of industrial and systems engineering at USC has finished developing a three-dimensional “printing” device that creates buildings, which is now being incorporated into research and lectures at USC.

Berok Khoshnevis began work on his Contour Crafting device in 2000 after recognizing fabrication technology’s ability to create buildings. In 2006, it was named one of the top 25 inventions by the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Khoshnevis said he believes this new technology that is working toward building full-scale structures is the future of home creation.

Khoshnevis compared his work in the engineering of architecture to “the Wright Brothers’ 12-second flight for aviation.” He described his work as just the beginning of a much longer process that will eventually lead to an entirely new industry.

Contour Crafting creates structures solely by a computerized process. In the process — called “robotically guided extrusion” — the 3-D printing device expels a concrete-like substance out of a nozzle and forms structures by building up, layer by layer. The nozzle moves in space to create the patterns, dictated by a computer.

Much different than a traditional paper printer, the device stands 13 feet high, 17 feet wide and 25 feet long.

This is only a prototype, Khoshnevis said, and the actual device will be much larger. Currently, the device primarily builds models of homes.

Steven Nutt, professor of material sciences and mechanical engineering at USC, worked alongside Khoshnevis on developing the material used for the buildings.

“[It was] challenging to develop a material that will flow and also rapidly harden sufficiently to carry weight of subsequent layers without slumping,” Nutt said.

The problems of clogs in the nozzle also arose, which complicated development process. It took 10 years and 15 patents to create the material and extrusion process used today.