Hardened properties and durability of large-scale 3D printed cement-based materials

Materials and Structures volume 54, Article number: 45 (2021) Cite this article

Abstract

This study systematically investigates the hardened properties, durability and void distribution of large-scale 3D printed cement-based materials (3DPC). Experimental results indicate that 3DPC has higher compressive and flexural strengths, lower drying shrinkage, better resistance against sulfate attack and carbonation than mold-cast cement-based materials, but lower resistance to frost damage and chloride ion penetration. Computed tomography scanning reveals that voids in 3DPC are strongly oriented along the printing direction. Furthermore, the voids are much more inter-connected and even continuous among the printed filaments. This unique void distribution is the origin of anisotropy for 3DPC and can explain the determined directional dependency of mechanical strengths and durability performance. Along the printing direction, the more connected voids render more channels for gas and liquid to penetrate into 3DPC.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge financial supports from National Natural Science Foundation of China (51878153 and 51678143), National Basic Research Program of China 973 Program (2015CB655102), National Natural Science Foundation of China (52008284) and Higher Education Institutions (20KJB560004). Support from Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Digital Construction and Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology, Swinburne University, is appreciated.

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Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, China

    Yu Zhang, Yunsheng Zhang & Yidong Chen

  2. Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Civil Engineering Materials, Nanjing, 211189, China

    Yu Zhang, Yunsheng Zhang & Yidong Chen

  3. School of Civil Engineering, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou, 730050, China

    Yunsheng Zhang

  4. School of Water Conservancy Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China

    Lin Yang

  5. School of Civil Engineering, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, Suzhou, 215011, China

    Guojian Liu

  6. Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Digital Construction, Swinburne University of Technology, VIC, 3122, Australia

    Shiwei Yu

  7. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 117576, Singapore

    Hongjian Du

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  1. Yu Zhang
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  3. Lin Yang
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Correspondence to Yunsheng Zhang or Hongjian Du.

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Zhang, Y., Zhang, Y., Yang, L. et al. Hardened properties and durability of large-scale 3D printed cement-based materials. Mater Struct 54, 45 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-021-01632-x

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Keywords

  • Additive manufacturing
  • Digital construction
  • Void distribution
  • Layer structure
  • Anisotropy