Influence of Binder Saturation Level on Compressive Strength and Dimensional Accuracy of Powder-Based 3D Printed Geopolymer

Powder-based 3D concrete printing (3DCP) process is highly suitable for producing building components and interior structures that can be later assembled on site. The accuracy and strength of 3D printed concrete components heavily rely on printing parameters, among which the binder saturation is the most decisive parameter. This paper reports the effects of binder saturation level on linear dimensional accuracy and compressive strength of 3D printed geopolymer. A geopolymer composition suitable for the powder-based 3DCP process previously developed by the authors was used in this study. 20 mm cubic specimens were printed with five binder saturation levels (75%, 100%, 125%, 150% and 170%). The results indicated that the increase in binder saturation level resulted in significant increase in compressive strengths of both green and post-processed samples in both directions. Nevertheless, the rate of increase in compressive strength of green samples was significantly higher than the post-processed samples. On the other hand, the increase in binder saturation level significantly reduced the linear dimensional accuracy of green samples in all directions. Nonetheless, the rate of reduction in linear dimensional accuracy in Z-direction was lower than the other two directions.

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