3D cutting machine of EPS foam for manufacturing free-formed concrete mold

We used a construction method using a CNC milling machine, where free-formed molds were made by cutting EPS (Expanded PolyStyrene) foam with the CNC machine, to build free-formed buildings. CNC milling is off-the-shelf technology that can easily cut EPS foam; however its production cost is too high and the time to manufacture an EPS mold is too long. This paper proposes a novel cutting machine with a fast and cost effective mechanism to manufacture EPS concrete molds. Our machine comprises a cutter and Cartesian coordinate type moving mechanism, where the cutter cuts EPS foam using a hotwire in the shape of '?' and is capable of adjusting its cutting angle in real-time while keeping its cutting width. We proved through cutting experiments on the CNC machine that cutting time was greatly shortened compared to the conventional method and that the resulting concrete mold satisfied manufacturing precision.