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Influence of the printing direction and age on the mechanical properties of 3D printed concrete

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Abstract

3D concrete printing (3DCP) technology through wet extrusion was developed as one of the digitized approaches with the aim of enhancing the conventional construction methods. Investigation of mechanical/structural behaviour of printed elements is one of the critical aspects regarding the use of 3DCP. A comprehensive experimental programme was performed to evaluate the behaviour under compressive and flexural loading, at distinct ages and under different loading orientations regarding the printing direction, as well as the quality of printed specimens in addition to the degree of their anisotropic/orthotropic. During the compressive tests, a digital image correlation analysis was also performed to assess the crack initiation and propagation within concrete printed specimens. The results unveiled an adequate quality of the printed specimens based on the mechanical tests performed, which was also corroborated by some physical properties, namely through the specific weight and porosity, in which the differences between the printed and mould cast series were marginal.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the support of dst group construction company for funding the Project Chair dst/IB-S: Smart Systems for Construction. The first author would like to acknowledge the Grant SFRH/BD/143636/2019 provided by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). Moreover, the authors appreciate the support of following companies that graciously provided the required material for performing the experimental campaign: SECIL; SIKA; ELKEM and UNIBETAO.

Funding

dst group construction company is funding the Project Chair dst/IB-S: Smart Systems for Construction. The Grant SFRH/BD/143636/2019 is provided by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for the first author.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ISISE, Institute of Science and Innovation for Bio-Sustainability (IB-S), Department of Civil Engineering, University of Minho, 4800-058, Guimarães, Portugal

    Behzad Zahabizadeh, João Pereira, Claúdia Gonçalves, Eduardo N. B. Pereira & Vítor M. C. F. Cunha

  2. Innovation Point, Rua de Pitancinhos – Palmeira, 4700-727, Braga, Portugal

    João Pereira

  3. DST Group, Rua de Pitancinhos – Palmeira, 4700-727, Braga, Portugal

    Claúdia Gonçalves

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  1. Behzad Zahabizadeh
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  4. Eduardo N. B. Pereira
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the definition of this experimental study. Material preparation, data collection and result analysis were performed by BZ, JP and CG. ENBP and VMCFC analyzed also the experimental results. BZ has written the first draft of the manuscript, which was reviewed by all authors. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Vítor M. C. F. Cunha.

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The original online version of this article was revised: In Table 2 of this article heading ‘Mix B’, identifying the last three columns of the table, was missing.

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Zahabizadeh, B., Pereira, J., Gonçalves, C. et al. Influence of the printing direction and age on the mechanical properties of 3D printed concrete. Mater Struct 54, 73 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-021-01660-7

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