The Anonymous Widower

The Story Behind The Concrete Panels On The Elizabeth Line

These are a selection of the pictures I took yesterday inside Elizabeth Line stations.

Note.

1. The walls and ceilings appear to be covered in light grey panels with holes.
2. The material appears to look like concrete.
3. Every one is a totally different shape, so how were they manufactured?

This article on Ian Visits is entitled How Crossrail Is Using 3D-Printing To Build Its Stations.

This is the two opening paragraphs.

When you start to use the new Elizabeth line stations, among its many achievements will be the first large scale use of 3D-printing in concrete.

The use of 3D printing has made possible one of the more distinctive features of the future Elizabeth line stations — the curved concrete panels that will line the inside of the passenger tunnels and some stations, and sinuously glide around corners in a way never seen before in a tube station.

There will be a total of something like 36,000 of these panels and although printing each in concrete is possible, Crossrail would probably have been delivered in the 2040s or 2050s.

The contractors used an innovative process called FreeFAB, which had been invented by an Australian architect.

• The process creates a wax mould for each panel using 3D printing.
• This mould is then used to create the actual panel.
• After each panel is cast, the wax is melted off and recycled.
• The panels are made in a factory in Doncaster.

We will see a lot more of this technique used in the construction industry.

May 25, 2022 - Posted by AnonW | Design, Transport/Travel | 3D Concrete Printing, 3D Printing, Australia, Concrete, Construction, Elizabeth Line, Innovation