An experimental study of thermal performance of 3D printed concrete slabs

Abstract

• Thermal performance of 3D concrete printed solid and hollow slabs were experimentally evaluated. • Due to interlayer air gaps, the solid printed slab showed more thermal resistance in direction of heat flow. • 3D printed solid slab has shown better thermal performance than hollow slabs. • The void-to-footprint ratio and insulation materials affects the final result. This work presents the most important advances in 3D printing, specifically the thermal performance of 3D printed concrete slabs with potential use as walls elements. One of the principal factors restricting widespread adoption of 3D printed concrete is the lack of thermal insulation, which needs an immediate attention. It is with this backdrop that this paper conducts a preliminary investigation on the thermal performance of 3D printed slabs containing two different cavity patterns with and without insulation material. The 3D printed solid slab has shown slight reduction in inside surface temperature (1℃) than casted slab owing to the cold joints between the printed layers. Compared to solid printed slab, 3D printed hollow slab with two and three identical cavities have shown 6℃ and 4 °C higher inside surface temperature respectively. However, with added insulation, the inside temperature of printed hollow slabs was found to be similar to the solid slab due to increased insulation capacity. The delayed heat transfer resulted in higher outside surface temperature for the 3D printed hollow insulated slabs.