Markin, V.; Nerella, V.N.; Schröfl, C.; Guseynova, G.; Mechtcherine, V. Material Design and Performance Evaluation of Foam Concrete for Digital Fabrication. Materials2019, 12, 2433.
Markin, V.; Nerella, V.N.; Schröfl, C.; Guseynova, G.; Mechtcherine, V. Material Design and Performance Evaluation of Foam Concrete for Digital Fabrication. Materials 2019, 12, 2433.
Markin, V.; Nerella, V.N.; Schröfl, C.; Guseynova, G.; Mechtcherine, V. Material Design and Performance Evaluation of Foam Concrete for Digital Fabrication. Materials2019, 12, 2433.
Markin, V.; Nerella, V.N.; Schröfl, C.; Guseynova, G.; Mechtcherine, V. Material Design and Performance Evaluation of Foam Concrete for Digital Fabrication. Materials 2019, 12, 2433.
Abstract
3D-printing with foam concrete, which is known for its distinct physical and mechanical properties, has not yet been purposefully investigated. The article at hand presents a methodological approach for the mixture design of 3D-printable foam concretes and a systematic investigation of the potential application of this type of material in digital construction. Three different foam concrete compositions with water-to-binder ratios between 0.33 and 0.36 and having densities of 1100 to 1580 kg/m³ in the fresh state were produced with a pre-foaming technique using a protein-based foaming agent. Based on the fresh-state tests, including 3D-printing as such, an optimum composition was identified and its compressive and flexural strengths were characterised. The printable foam concrete showed compressive strength above 10 MPa and low thermal conductivity, which make it suitable for 3D-printing applications, while fulfilling both load-carrying and insulating functions.
Keywords
digital fabrication; 3D printing; foam concrete; mixture design; material testing
Subject
Engineering, Civil Engineering
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.