Particle bed 3D printing by selective cement activation – Applications, material and process technology

Abstract The present work addresses particle bed binding by selective cement activation as an additive manufacturing process for cement-based materials in construction industry. Its focus is the effect of material and process on the microstructure and macroscopic properties of the hardened material. As macroscopic properties, strength and dimensional accuracy are characterized. The structure of the printed material is investigated on the micro scale by quantifying porosity and homogeneity of the layers. It is shown that material and process parameters such as the w/c-ratio, particle size distribution of the aggregates, addition of methylcellulose as well as the method of water application (spraying or jetting) have a significant effect on the properties of the additively manufactured specimens. Furthermore, the results clearly demonstrate the importance of a thorough analysis of the underlying mechanisms at the micro level for a comprehensive understanding of the material and process-related influences.

[1]  D. Chung,et al.  Effect of methylcellulose admixture on the mechanical properties of cement , 1996 .

[2]  N. Otsu.  A threshold selection method from gray level histograms , 1979 .

[3]  J. Sanjayan,et al.  Methods of enhancing strength of geopolymer produced from powder-based 3D printing process , 2018, Materials Letters.

[4]  Christoph Gehlen,et al.  3D printing of concrete structures using the selective binding method – Effect of concrete technology on contour precision and compressive strength , 2016 .

[5]  V. Malhotra.  Making Concrete "Greener" with Fly Ash , 1999 .

[6]  Ming Xia,et al.  Influence of Binder Saturation Level on Compressive Strength and Dimensional Accuracy of Powder-Based 3D Printed Geopolymer , 2018, Materials Science Forum.

[7]  Richard A. Buswell,et al.  Developments in construction-scale additive manufacturing processes , 2012 .

[8]  Ming Xia,et al.  Compressive Strength and Dimensional Accuracy of Portland Cement Mortar Made Using Powder-Based 3D Printing for Construction Applications , 2018 .

[9]  Xiangyu Wang,et al.  A critical review of the use of 3-D printing in the construction industry , 2016 .

[10]  Pshtiwan Shakor,et al.  Modified 3D printed powder to cement-based material and mechanical properties of cement scaffold used in 3D printing , 2017 .

[11]  Isolda Agustí-Juan,et al.  Environmental design guidelines for digital fabrication , 2017 .

[12]  Freek Bos,et al.  A process classification framework for defining and describing Digital Fabrication with Concrete , 2020, Cement and Concrete Research.

[13]  Christoph Gehlen,et al.  Particle-bed 3D printing in concrete construction – Possibilities and challenges , 2018, Cement and Concrete Research.

[14]  P. Coussot,et al.  How water retention in porous media with cellulose ethers works , 2012 .

[15]  J. Sanjayan,et al.  Method of formulating geopolymer for 3D printing for construction applications , 2016 .

[16]  F. Pignon,et al.  Methylcellulose, a Cellulose Derivative with Original Physical Properties and Extended Applications , 2015 .

[17]  Intrusion of a Liquid Droplet into a Powder under Gravity. , 2016, Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids.

[18]  Brian Derby,et al.  Additive Manufacture of Ceramics Components by Inkjet Printing , 2015 .

[19]  R. Benedix.  Bauchemie: Einführung in die Chemie für Bauingenieure und Architekten , 2020 .

[20]  Pshtiwan Shakor,et al.  Dimensional accuracy, flowability, wettability, and porosity in inkjet 3DP for gypsum and cement mortar materials , 2020 .

[21]  Valentina Colla,et al.  Building components for an outpost on the Lunar soil by means of a novel 3D printing technology , 2014 .

[22]  Enhancing Strength of Powder-Based 3D Printed Geopolymers for Digital Construction Applications , 2019, RILEM Bookseries.

[23]  Bambang Suhendro,et al.  Toward Green Concrete for Better Sustainable Environment , 2014 .

[24]  Dirk Lowke,et al.  Penetration of cement pastes into sand packings during 3D printing: analytical and experimental study , 2018 .

[25]  Michael J. Cima,et al.  Three Dimensional Printing: Rapid Tooling and Prototypes Directly from a CAD Model , 1992 .

[26]  G. Gibbons,et al.  3D Printing of cement composites , 2010 .

[27]  Ming Xia,et al.  Printability, accuracy and strength of geopolymer made using powder-based 3D printing for construction applications , 2019, Automation in Construction.

[28]  Florian Müller,et al.  Potential benefits of digital fabrication for complex structures: Environmental assessment of a robotically fabricated concrete wall , 2017 .

[29]  Bishwajit Bhattacharjee,et al.  Porosity, pore size distribution and in situ strength of concrete , 2003 .

[30]  U. Schubert,et al.  Inkjet Printing of Polymers: State of the Art and Future Developments , 2004 .

[31]  Freek Bos,et al.  Additive manufacturing of concrete in construction: potentials and challenges of 3D concrete printing , 2016, International Journal of Civil Engineering and Construction.

[32]  J. Sanjayan,et al.  Post-processing Methods to Improve Strength of Particle-Bed 3D Printed Geopolymer for Digital Construction Applications , 2019, Front. Mater..

[33]  P. Bocchini,et al.  Material characteristics of binder jet 3D printed hydrated CSA cement with the addition of fine aggregates , 2019, Construction and Building Materials.