State of the Art Review of Reinforcement Strategies and Technologies for 3D Printing of Concrete

• Published in: Energies (Basel) Vol. 15; no. 1; p. 360
• Main Authors: Wu, Zhengyu, Memari, Ali, Duarte, Jose
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.01.2022
• Subjects: 3-D printers; 3D printing of concrete; Additive manufacturing; Bending stresses; Concrete; Concrete construction; construction; Construction industry; Emissions; Literature reviews; Reinforced concrete; Reinforcement; Robotics; Sustainable materials; Tensile strength
• ISSN: 1996-1073; 1996-1073
• DOI: 10.3390/en15010360

This state of the art review paper aims to discuss the results of a literature survey on possible ways to reinforce printed concrete based on existing reinforcement strategies. Just as conventional concrete, for 3D printed concrete to be suitable for large-scale construction, reinforcement is needed to increase the tensile capacity of concrete members and reduce temperature and shrinkage cracking. Despite efforts that are currently underway, the development of proper reinforcement suitable for printed concrete is still very active on the research agenda. As an initial step for designing suitable reinforcement for printed concrete, the existing reinforcement methods for printed concrete as well as conventional cast concrete from the literature are reviewed and summarized. Through the preliminary evaluation of the suitability and effectiveness of various reinforcement methods, guidelines are proposed to better understand possible solutions to reinforce printed concrete and inspire new practical ideas to fill the current technology void. The conclusions also include the possible improvements of the existing reinforcement methods to be considered in future applications.