PUCP to 3D print emergency housing with WasiTek project

WasiTek, a project that has been developing an autonomous robotic construction system designed for natural disasters using innovative 3D printing technology, aims to build emergency housing quickly, safely and efficiently.

The Engineering Department and the Science Department of our University are part of the project, financed by the National Council for Science, Technology and Technological Innovation (Concytec), and in which the University of Piura and Drexel University of Philadelphia also participate.

State-of-the-art technology

"WasiTek consists mainly of three parts," says Dr. Javier Nakamatsu, professor in the Department of Science and principal investigator of the project. The first part is about finding suitable materials that can later be used in 3D printing. These are local earth-based materials, enhanced with natural polymers that have been extracted from industrial waste.

In the second part of the project, a small-scale pilot printer has been developed, which has been used to make initial tests with the material. Finally, the last stage consists of building the printer at normal scale to print the housing modules.

"Construction by 3D printing is a completely autonomous process. The printer receives a code of instructions that represents the shape to be built and moves according to them," explains Dr. Guido Silva, professor in the Department of Engineering and co-investigator of the project. This code is integrated into the printer's extrusion system to manufacture the desired product.

A major advantage of this technology is that, unlike traditional construction, with 3D printing there is no waste of materials, as only the material strictly necessary for the construction of the structure is printed. "With this, construction times are expected to be shorter," Nakamatsu points out.

First large-scale 3D printer in the country

"Applying an emerging technology like 3D printing to an industry like construction requires a lot of innovation," says Dr. Rafael Aguilar, project co-investigator and head of the Engineering Department.

In fact, this is the first large-scale 3D printer of construction material to be implemented in the country. It is one of the largest equipment of its kind in Latin America and the largest developed by a university in the region. The printer has a dimension of 25 square meters at its base and 5 meters high, which gives a volume of 125 cubic meters.

Likewise, Aguilar explains that by incorporating earth as the main component of the products built by the printer, PUCP becomes one of the few institutions in the world to work with sustainable materials for housing construction. "This project also introduces us to 3D printing construction in seismic countries, a field that has been little explored," adds the head of the Engineering Department.

Finally, Nakamatsu highlights that, given its characteristics, the 3D printing project encompasses 2 of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: ensuring affordable and safe housing, and reducing CO2 emissions by being cement-free.