A 3D Printing Platform for Reinforced Printed-Sprayed Concrete Composites

Abstract

The issue of reinforcement remains a difficult one for digital fabrication in concrete construction, with many solutions offered on how to best incorporate it with the technology in a practical manner. While certain technologies, such as digital casting systems, allow more seamless introduction of traditional steel reinforcement bars, the dominant technology of extrusion-based 3D printing still shows great limitations, with the most typical application being that of a lost formwork for traditionally cast concrete, or as unreinforced masonry. The use of both conventional and unconventional reinforcement materials, and their incorporation into processes, is a large and active area of research with the digital concrete community. In this work, we present a 3D printing platform and manufacturing concept in which a 3D printed form serves as a vertical substrate for a reinforcement, either textile or conventional steel. The structural concrete is then either applied by hand or sprayed around the reinforcement.