Digital Mold Technology for Double-Curved GRC Shaping: Principles and Application Research

When architectural aesthetics collide with digital technology, double-curved GRC shapes are reshaping city skylines with astonishing expressiveness. As an industry leader with 28 years of deep expertise in the UHPC/GRC/GRG/GRP materials field, Qinglong Group has witnessed how digital mold technology breaks through the bottlenecks of traditional craftsmanship, turning "impossible" architectural forms into reality.

The Underlying Logic of Digital Mold Technology for Double-Curved GRC Shapes

Double-curved GRC (glass fiber reinforced concrete), with its smooth curved surfaces and structural stability, has become the material of choice for landmark building facades. Traditional molds rely on manual replication and face problems such as insufficient precision (errors often exceeding 5mm) and low shape fidelity. In contrast, digital mold technology achieves "millimeter-level" transformation from design drawings to physical components through the full-process coordination of 3D scanning, parametric design (e.g., the Rhino+Grasshopper platform), and CNC machining. Its core lies in decomposing double-curved surfaces into quantifiable digital models, then completing the industrialized production of complex shapes through the assembly of modular mold units. In the Technical Standard for Architectural Application of Glass Fiber Reinforced Cement (GRC) (JGJ/T423-2018), which Qinglong Group helped draft, digital mold technology is explicitly listed as a key supporting technology for the construction of complex shapes.

Technological Breakthrough: The Leap from "Handcrafted Customization" to "Digital Intelligent Manufacturing"

The application of digital mold technology has increased the production efficiency of double-curved GRC by 300% and reduced the defect rate to below 1%. In a grand theater project, the Qinglong team used BIM technology to build a 1:1 digital twin model, decomposed the double-curved facade into 286 special-shaped units, and employed composite molds made of ABS engineering plastic and fiberglass, achieving ultra-high precision with a single curvature radius of 300mm and a double-curvature deviation of ≤2mm. Compared with traditional wooden molds, digital molds can be reused more than 50 times, cutting overall costs by 40%. This "digitally driven" model perfectly resolves the industry pain point of designers being able to "conceive but not produce" complex curved surfaces. Just as in the Century Plaza renovation project on Nanjing East Road, in which Qinglong participated, the combination of translucent concrete and double-curved GRC won the Silver Award of the AALBORG WHITE Cup UHPC Architectural Engineering Innovation Award.

Full-Chain Empowerment: The Practical Value of Qinglong's Digital Mold Technology

As a national-level high-tech enterprise, Qinglong Group has built a full-chain service system extending from design development to after-sales maintenance. In the design development stage, 3D scanning technology is used for millimeter-level site surveying to ensure precise matching between molds and building structures; in production, an automated grouting system is adopted, combined with RFID chips to trace the production data of each component; during installation, 3D laser positioning technology achieves "zero-error" assembly. This "digital gene" has been embedded in overseas projects undertaken by Qinglong, such as an international airport in Malaysia and a cultural center in Saudi Arabia. Its double-curved GRC facade systems not only meet the weather-resistance requirements of local extreme climates, but have also become urban landmarks thanks to their distinctive shapes.

From classical European lines to modern double-curved facades, the evolution of GRC materials has always advanced in step with technological innovation. Building on 28 years of industry experience, Qinglong Group has deeply integrated digital mold technology into its UHPC/GRC/GRG/GRP product systems, driving the architectural decoration industry to transform from "standardized manufacturing" to "personalized intelligent manufacturing." In the future, as parametric design and AI algorithms become ever more deeply integrated, double-curved GRC shapes will unleash their creative potential in more fields, and Qinglong will continue its mission of "creating beautiful architecture" to serve as an innovation engine in the global architectural decoration materials sector.