Designing the Composition of a Cement-Based 3D Construction Printing Material

Abstract

The physical and technological properties of the 3D construction printing material are formulated. It is shown that the composition should have unique rheological characteristics, controlled setting time, high adhesion, and fast strength. It is determined that a similar material with the required properties can be obtained by creating a composite material based on two active substances: a cementing material and a polymer binder, on one hand, and modification of the particles surface with a superplasticizer, on the other hand. The regularities of the influence of organic components (polymer binder and oligomeric superplasticizer) on the cement matrix are obtained. The mortar mobility, setting time, strength characteristics, and microstructure of the polymer–cement mortar are investigated. A patented composition of the composite material is developed for the innovative construction industry based on Portland cement and polyvinyl acetate dispersion. By modifying the phase boundary of the colloidal system, the proposed composite has the required plastic strength, high setting rate, high fast strength, crack resistance, and a number of other properties necessary for 3D printing of large-sized products and off-formwork structures.