Application potential of combining strain hardening cementitious composites and helical reinforcement for 3D concrete printed structures: Case study of a spiral staircase

Lauri Hass (Corresponding author), Karsten Nefs, Freek Bos, T. A.M. Salet

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)
125 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Despite 3D Concrete Printing having the potential to advance the construction industry through material savings, design flexibility, and a more efficient workflow from design to construction, the challenge of reinforcing the layers of created structures remains unresolved. Recent developments within reinforcement techniques for 3D concrete printing, such as helical reinforcement and strain-hardening cementitious composites, have shown promise to work as potential solutions. To demonstrate the effectiveness of these techniques on a load-bearing structure, an automated production of spiral staircase elements is presented combining automated placement of helical reinforcement and strain-hardening cementitious composites. A design study is presented and different staircase elements were produced, experimentally tested in bending and compared to analytical results. The findings of the study reveal that the strengths and weaknesses of each reinforcement concept are evident when examined individually. However, when integrated together, these concepts complement each other, resulting in a successful and efficient reinforcement method for printed concrete.

Original languageEnglish
Article number107926
Number of pages18
JournalJournal of Building Engineering
Volume80
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors

Funding

This study is funded by Consolis SAS and through the NWO Open Technology Program , project ‘High Performance 3D Concrete Printing’, grant number 17251 - their support is gratefully ackowledged. Furthermore, the assistance of the staff of the Structural Engineering and Design Laboratory at TU Eindhoven in the experimental program, is highly appreciated. Additionally, Kristjan Jaak scholarship fund provided by the European Regional Development Fund and Estonian government is acknowledged. We thank Saint Gobain Weber Beamix for supplying raw materials for this research, Kuraray for providing the PVA fibres, Total Wall for supplying the HeliBar reinforcement, and M-Tec Mathis Technik GmbH for supplying the mixer pump (Duo-Mix connect).

FundersFunder number
NWO Open Technology Program17251
European Regional Development Fund

    Keywords

    • Application
    • Automation
    • Helical reinforcement
    • SHCC

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