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Fresh Properties of Sustainable Building Materials 3D Printing Application

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Engineering and Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2021) | Viewed by 64433

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Biranchi Panda

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Guest Editor

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati, India
Interests: additive manufacturing; polymer composites 3D printing; cement and ceramic composites; material characterization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

3D printing of cementitious materials has emerged as the third industrial revolution, and it presents unlimited possibilities for the construction industry, especially in terms of geometrical flexibility, the reduction of manpower and costs, increased productivity, increased speed of construction, and sustainability. The potential of this technology to revolutionize construction is real, not only through reducing costs but also by increasing sustainability and functionality. One of the great challenges in concrete printing is “material design”, which involves many contradicting criteria such as being fluid enough to be mixed and pumped while being stiff enough to retain a shape without significant deformation. In this regard, fresh properties of the mixtures like yield stress, viscosity, elastic modulus, and structuration rate play a crucial role in print complex structures in the absence of a rigid mold.

While substantial research on material design has been published in the last few years, there are still many challenges regarding precisely controlling rheological characteristics with potential admixtures and developing new test methods to measure the fresh state properties related to the 3D printing process.

This Special Issue calls for papers that contribute mixed design approaches and new measurement techniques for estimating fresh properties of 3D printable concrete. These topics include but are not limited to the following:

Sustainable building materials and composites;
Material design;
Rheology and fresh state behaviour;
Admixtures;
3D printing technology;
Modelling and numerical simulations;
Design and applications.

Dr. Biranchi Panda
Guest Editor

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Keywords

3D concrete printing
particle-bed 3D printing
extrusion
rheology and fresh properties

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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21 pages, 4768 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Multi-Physics Analysis for Rubber-Cement Applications in Building and Architectural Fields: A Preliminary Analysis

by Marco Valente, Matteo Sambucci, Abbas Sibai and Ettore Musacchi

Sustainability 2020, 12(15), 5993; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12155993 - 25 Jul 2020

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3550

Abstract

Generally, in most countries, there are no strict regulations regarding tire disposal. Hence, tires end up thrown in seas and lands as well as being burnt, harming the living beings, and are therefore considered a very dangerous pollution source for the environment. Over the past few years, several researchers have worked on incorporating shredded/powdered rubber tires into cement-based material. This strategy shows a dual functionality: Economic–environmental benefits and technological functionalization of the building material. Rubber-modified cement materials show interesting engineering and architectural properties due to the physical-chemical nature of the tire rubber aggregates. However, the abovementioned performances are affected by type, size, and content of polymer particles used in the cement-based mixtures production. Whereas an increase in the rubber content in the cement mix will negatively affect the mechanical properties of the material as a decrease in its compression strength. This aspect is crucial for the use of the material in building applications, where proper structural integrity must be guaranteed. In this context, the development of innovative manufacturing technologies and the use of multi-physics simulation software represent useful approaches for the study of shapes and geometries designed to maximize the technological properties of the material. After an overview on the performances of 3D printable rubber-cement mixtures developed in our research laboratory, a preliminary experimental Finite Element Method (FEM) analysis will be described. The modeling work aims to highlight how the topology optimization allows maximizing of the physical-mechanical performances of a standard rubber-cement component for building-architectural applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fresh Properties of Sustainable Building Materials 3D Printing Application)

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18 pages, 4130 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Modular Approach for Steel Reinforcing of 3D Printed Concrete—Preliminary Study

by Joseph J. Assaad, Abdallah Abou Yassin, Fatima Alsakka and Farook Hamzeh

Sustainability 2020, 12(10), 4062; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12104062 - 15 May 2020

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 4522

Abstract

3D concrete printing technology has considerably progressed in terms of material proportioning and properties; however, it still suffers from the difficulty of incorporating steel reinforcement for structural applications. This paper aims at developing a modular approach capable of manufacturing 3D printed beam and column members reinforced with conventional steel bars. The cubic-shaped printed modules had 240 mm sides, possessing four holes on the corners for subsequent insertion of flexural steel and grouting operations. The transverse steel (i.e., stirrups) was manually incorporated during the printing process. The reinforced 3D printed beams were built by joining the various modules using high-strength epoxy resins. Test results showed that the compressive and flexural strengths of plain (i.e., unreinforced) 3D printed specimens are higher than traditionally cast-in-place (CIP) ones, which was mostly attributed to the injected high-strength grout that densifies the matrix and hinders the ease of crack propagation during loading. The flexural moment capacity of 3D reinforced printed beams were fairly close to the ACI 318-19 code provisions; however, about 22% lower than companion CIP members. The reduction in peak loads was attributed to the modular approach used to construct the 3D members, which might alter the fundamentals and concepts of reinforced concrete design, including the transfer and redistribution of stresses at ultimate loading conditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fresh Properties of Sustainable Building Materials 3D Printing Application)

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Review

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18 pages, 5663 KiB

Open AccessReview

A Concise Review on Interlayer Bond Strength in 3D Concrete Printing

by Adewumi John Babafemi, John Temitope Kolawole, Md Jihad Miah, Suvash Chandra Paul and Biranchi Panda

Sustainability 2021, 13(13), 7137; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13137137 - 25 Jun 2021

Cited by 36 | Viewed by 5133

Abstract

Interlayer bond strength is one of the key aspects of 3D concrete printing. It is a well-established fact that, similar to other 3D printing process material designs, process parameters and printing environment can significantly affect the bond strength between layers of 3D printed concrete. The first section of this review paper highlights the importance of bond strength, which can affect the mechanical and durability properties of 3D printed structures. The next section summarizes all the testing and bond strength measurement methods adopted in the literature, including mechanical and microstructure characterization. Finally, the last two sections focus on the influence of critical parameters on bond strength and different strategies employed in the literature for improving the strength via strengthening mechanical interlocking in the layers and tailoring surface as well as interface reactions. This concise review work will provide a holistic perspective on the current state of the art of interlayer bond strength in 3D concrete printing process. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fresh Properties of Sustainable Building Materials 3D Printing Application)

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21 pages, 3205 KiB

Open AccessReview

A Review of 3D Printing in Construction and its Impact on the Labor Market

by Md. Aslam Hossain, Altynay Zhumabekova, Suvash Chandra Paul and Jong Ryeol Kim

Sustainability 2020, 12(20), 8492; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12208492 - 15 Oct 2020

Cited by 117 | Viewed by 42578

Abstract

Construction industry is very labor-intensive and one of the major sources of employment in the world. The industry is experiencing low productivity with minimum technological innovations for decades. In recent times, various automation technologies including 3D printing have received increasing interests in construction. 3D printing in construction is found to be very promising to automate the construction processes and have the potential of saving laborious work, material waste, construction time, risky operation for humans, etc. There has been a comprehensive body of research conducted to understand the recent advances, future prospects and challenges of large-scale adoption of 3D printing in construction projects. Being one the labor-intensive industries, this study also investigates the possible impact on the labor market with increasing adoption of 3D printing in construction. It is found that 3D printing can reduce significant number of labors which can solve the labor shortage problem, especially for the countries where construction is heavily dependent on immigrant workers. In contrast, 3D printing might not be favorable for the countries where construction is one of the main workforces and labor is less expensive. Moreover, 3D construction printing will also require people with special skills related to this new technology. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fresh Properties of Sustainable Building Materials 3D Printing Application)

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34 pages, 12310 KiB

Open AccessReview

Fresh and Hardened Properties of Extrusion-Based 3D-Printed Cementitious Materials: A Review

by Zhanzhao Li, Maryam Hojati, Zhengyu Wu, Jonathon Piasente, Negar Ashrafi, José P. Duarte, Shadi Nazarian, Sven G. Bilén, Ali M. Memari and Aleksandra Radlińska

Sustainability 2020, 12(14), 5628; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12145628 - 13 Jul 2020

Cited by 61 | Viewed by 7685

Abstract

3D-printing of cementitious materials is an innovative construction approach with which building elements can be constructed without the use of formwork. Despite potential benefits in the construction industry, it introduces various engineering challenges from the material point of view. This paper reviews the properties of extrusion-based 3D-printed cementitious materials in both fresh and hardened states. Four main properties of fresh-state printing materials are addressed: flowability, extrudability, buildability, and open time, along with hardened properties, including density, compressive strength, flexural strength, tensile bond strength, shrinkage, and cracking. Experimental testing and effective factors of each property are covered, and a mix design procedure is proposed. The main objective of this paper is to provide an overview of the recent development in 3D-printing of cementitious materials and to identify the research gaps that need further investigation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fresh Properties of Sustainable Building Materials 3D Printing Application)

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