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A New Perspective on an Old Trade: The MCAA's 3D Printing Initiative

Words: Jordan Van Leeuwen
Photos: MCAA


The MCAA is always looking for new ways to showcase the beauty and ingenuity of masonry. To see how the parts of a masonry project come together is not only awe-inspiring, but it could also reveal an interest in the trade to those who have never had the opportunity to get a closer look.

3D Printing: A New Dimension for Masonry
Seeing the details of a finished masonry wall up close is always a treat. However, what if you wanted to see the layers within to understand why that wall is standing proudly? What if you wanted to share the tangible nature of our industry’s medium, no matter how close the nearest masonry wall is?

During my time with the MCAA, I’ve been given the fulfilling task of reconstructing dozens of masonry projects in computer-aided design software. Construction and CAD go hand in hand, of course, but one of the most rewarding things about this process has been our ability to 3D print the models I’ve drafted.

3D printing technology has come a long way, and it's steadily becoming more common to find a 3D printer in one’s home, office, or school. When we began working with these machines at the MCAA, the benefits became clear. Actually holding a miniature version of a masonry project and having the ability to move it around freely to see it from all sides, it's plain to see that the applications for this technology in our industry are seemingly endless.

  

The Masonry Skills Challenge Models
It started with the idea of creating scaled-down models of the walls designed for our annual Masonry Skills Challenge competition in Las Vegas at the World of Concrete. We wanted to give our contestants and judges both a physical project reference that they can hold and observe from all angles, as well as a keepsake to remind them of what they’d accomplished. We discovered great enthusiasm from those we shared these creations with at the convention, and knew that this was the start of something great.



Miniature Masonry
We began exploring other ways that we could use this exciting technology to benefit the industry. A natural evolution of the miniature walls was to scale their size down even more and convert them into keychains, allowing one to carry their masonry pride with them and share what makes the trade so special with others. These sorts of novelties can offer so much in the way of bringing masonry to people and places that otherwise wouldn’t be exposed to the trade.

At the same time, we also began printing models that are designed to be assembled from multiple pieces. Separate panels from one of these models can be brought together to form a complete wall by utilizing a jagged, key-like pattern that allows the pieces to slide together and interlock. We have also experimented with creating a fully customizable kit of units that can be clicked together to create a wide array of layouts. All of these techniques allow us to demonstrate how the masonry units come together and are great examples of how we can use 3D printing to look at masonry in a unique and accessible way. This has great potential for education.

 

Interactive Wall Systems
The next major stride we’ve taken is to model and print complete masonry wall systems. With the ability to illustrate a model in multiple parts, we knew the perfect application for this would be to represent all of the pieces within and demonstrate how they come together. From the masonry units themselves to things like flashing, insulation, rebar, and much more, it's all designed to be taken apart entirely and put together in a way that reveals how and why the system works.

 


Scaling Up 3D Printing Operations
Over time, we’ve dramatically increased the volume of our 3D-printing output. In the last few years, we’ve gone from just one printer to six high-end machines that we can have running simultaneously, all the time. We have the ability to go from the design phase to a finished model in a matter of hours, and are excited to start streamlining this process even further to have a wide variety of 3D printed creations always available.

The Digital Library
One of the most valuable outcomes of this process is the ability to display all of these designs we’ve created virtually. When the 3D models are designed and ready for the printer, that isn’t the end of their usefulness. We can easily load these CAD files into software that allows them to be viewed from all angles. Cross sections can be moved from side to side to see every inch of the wall, inside and out. Sections of the model can be moved and hidden to reveal how they come together. The MCAA will soon have a curated library of models to be viewed online through our website, with only a browser needed to access and view them on a computer or mobile device.

When paired with 3D scanning technology, 3D printing allows us to take objects from the real world and represent them at a smaller, more accessible scale. Take the chimneys recovered from the Palisades fire, for example. We were able to convert the scans from those sites into miniature models that can be used to study the masonry remnants at a smaller scale.

  

A masonry project has so much to explore and admire beyond its elegant exterior. 3D design and printing technology have allowed us to give exciting new perspectives that can give these details the spotlight they deserve and inspire new people to learn more and get involved in our industry.



About: Industry News
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