Selecting the Best 3D Concrete Printing Technology for Refugee Camp’s Shelter Construction Using Analytical Hierarchy Process: The Case of Syrian Refugees in Jordan

Abstract

Upgrading the Syrian refugee shelter design serves humanitarian needs, especially since the currently used T-shelters have a life span of 2–4 years, and there are no clear signs of an imminent return of Syrian refugees to their country, even after the end of the civil war. The use of 3D concrete printing can provide a promising method to construct new durable shelters with a long life span and provide better protection against extreme change in the desert climate, privacy, and cultural constraints. This research aims to use multi-criteria decision methods—in particular, the Analytical Hierarchal Process (AHP) method—to select the best 3D concrete printing to construct these shelters. The proposed model takes the following into consideration: the machine’s technical characteristics, building structure characteristics, and economic and environmental aspects. The three basic developed technologies—contour crafting, D-shape, and concrete printing—were used as alternatives in the model. The results show that contour crafting is the best technology for this application, and the inconsistency test and sensitivity analysis indicate an effective and reasonable technology ranking.

Keywords

• 3D concrete printing
• refugee shelter
• decision-making
• contour crafting
• concrete printing
• D-shape