Abstract
Additive manufacturing with cement-based materials needs sound approaches for the direct, seamless integration of reinforcement into structural and non-structural elements during their fabrication. Mineral-impregnated Carbon-Fibre (MCF) composites represent a new type of non-corrosive reinforcement that offers great potential in this regard. MCF not only exhibits high performance with respect to its mechanical characteristics and durability, but it also can be processed and shaped easily in the fresh state and, what is more, automated. This article describes different concepts for the continuous, fully automated integration of MCF reinforcement into 3D concrete printing based on layered extrusion. Moreover, for one of the approaches presented and discussed, namely 3D concrete printing with MCF supply from a continuous, stationary impregnation line and deposition of MCF between concrete filaments, a feasibility study was performed using a gantry 3D printer. Small-scale walls were printed and eventually used for the production of specimens for mechanical testing. Three-point bend tests performed on two different beam geometries showed a significant enhancement of both flexural strength and, more especially, deformability of the specimens reinforced with MCF in comparison to the specimens made of plain concrete.
Highlights
In recent years, Digital Concrete Construction (DCC) has increasingly attracted the attention of the construction industry and research groups
In the framework of additive manufacturing (AM) with concrete, often referred to as 3D concrete printing (3DCP) as well, techniques based on layered extrusion seem to be at the present stage the most promising approach with respect to both its economic feasibility and to its prospective use in construction practice [4,5]
Integrating Mineral-impregnated Carbon-Fibre (MCF) into the concrete filament excludes the option of a direct contact/overlap of reinforcing yarns/strands, while establishing such overlaps is very possible when the reinforcement can be deposited independently of the concrete, i.e., in the case of MCF integrated between concrete filaments
Summary
Digital Concrete Construction (DCC) has increasingly attracted the attention of the construction industry and research groups. The solutions frequently used suggest the discontinuous placement of steel bars between individual concrete layers [11] or printing concrete formwork and placing conventional steel reinforcement into it, followed by filling the formwork with vibrated or self-compacting concrete; see, for example, [12]. Pre-tensioned concrete elements can be realised using the latter approach as well [3]; alternatively, unbounded pre-stressing of printed, hardened concrete elements can be applied [13]. In all these cases, the placement of reinforcement is a separate production step delivered in a conventional manner. There are some suggestions for automating this step by assembling prefabricated reinforcement elements [13,14] or by applying AM techniques [15]
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