Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

3D Printed Engineered, Strain-Hardening Geopolymer Composite (EGC/SHGC) as Permanent Formwork for Concrete Beam Construction

Version 1 : Received: 29 March 2022 / Approved: 30 March 2022 / Online: 30 March 2022 (14:14:26 CEST)

How to cite: Bong, S.H.; Nematollahi, B.; Mechtcherine, V.; Li, V.C.; Khayat, K.H. 3D Printed Engineered, Strain-Hardening Geopolymer Composite (EGC/SHGC) as Permanent Formwork for Concrete Beam Construction. Preprints 2022, 2022030390. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202203.0390.v1 Bong, S.H.; Nematollahi, B.; Mechtcherine, V.; Li, V.C.; Khayat, K.H. 3D Printed Engineered, Strain-Hardening Geopolymer Composite (EGC/SHGC) as Permanent Formwork for Concrete Beam Construction. Preprints 2022, 2022030390. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202203.0390.v1

Abstract

The extrusion-based 3D concrete printing (3DCP) technology allows the fabrication of permanent formwork with intricate shapes, into which fresh concrete is cast to build structural members with complex geometry. This significantly enhances the geometric freedom of concrete structures without the use of expensive temporary formwork. In addition, with proper material choice for the permanent formwork, the load-bearing capacity and durability of the resulting structure can be improved. This paper investigates 3DCP of permanent formwork for reinforced concrete (RC) beam construction. A 3D-printable engineered geopolymer composite (3DP-EGC, or strain-hardening geopolymer composite, 3DP-SHGC) recently developed by the authors was used for fabrication of the permanent formwork. The 3DP-EGC exhibits strain-hardening behaviour under direct tension. Two different printing patterns were used for the soffit of the permanent formwork to investigate the effect of this parameter on the flexural performance of RC beams. A conventionally mould-cast RC beam was also prepared as the control beam for comparison purposes. The results showed that the RC beams constructed using the 3DP-EGC permanent formwork exhibited superior flexural performance to the control beam. Such beams yielded significantly higher cracking load (up to 43%), deflection at ultimate load (up to 60%), ductility index (50%) and absorbed energy (up to 107%) than those of the control beam. The ultimate load was comparable with or slightly higher than that of the control beam. Furthermore, the printing pattern at the soffit of the permanent formwork was found to have a significant influence on the flexural performance of the RC beams.

Keywords

3D concrete printing; engineered geopolymer composite; strain-hardening; permanent formwork; reinforced concrete beam

Subject

Engineering, Civil Engineering

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