Research on Materials for Concrete (Mortar) 3D

Printing Fabricated Components

Nana Liu, Qili Gan, Qin Tao, and Jie Wang(B)

ChongQing College of Architecture and Technology, ChongQing, China

Idnana@springer.com

Abstract. Concrete (mortar) 3D printing is a new construction process. Due to the

lack of sufficient tensile strength and ductility of traditional cement-based printing
materials, and the printing process will lead to the stratification of materials, and
most 3D printing is contour printing, only after manually filling concrete and steel
bars, 3D printed buildings have a certain bearing capacity. This paper discusses
the current research progress of concrete (mortar) 3D printing, the requirements
of printing materials, as well as the research status and future research direction
of bionic materials. Through analysis, combined with the new material UDHCC
independently developed by this research team, it is confirmed that it is completely
possible to realize layered pouring components with both flexural bearing capacity
and ductility. It provides theoretical and technical basis for the development of 3D
printing no-bar construction process.

Keywords: Prefabricated building components · 3D printing · New material

1 Research Background
In the past 30 years, China’s labor-intensive industries such as manufacturing and
construction have made great progress due to the large labor supply. However, with
China’s aging population becoming more and more serious, China’s labor-intensive
industries began to appear insufficient labor supply phenomenon. The aging of the effec-
tive labor force will become the biggest obstacle to the future development of China’s
manufacturing and construction industries.
As a new digital construction technology, building 3D printing technology may
become one of the solutions to the above problems. Building 3D printing technology
integrates computer, numerical control, material forming and other technologies, using
the principle of layered superposition of materials, the shape, size and other relevant
information of the three-dimensional building model is obtained by the computer, and it
is processed to a certain extent, according to a certain direction (usually Z-direction) the
model is decomposed into a layer file with a certain thickness, and the numerical control
program is generated. Finally, the mechanical device is controlled by the CNC system,
and the automatic Construction of the building or structure is realized according to the
specified path movement, which is called “Additive Construction”, as shown in Fig. 1
and Fig. 2.

© The Author(s) 2024

P. Xiang and L. Zuo (Eds.): PBSFTT 2023, LNCE 382, pp. 263–270, 2024.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-5108-2_28
264 N. Liu et al.

Fig. 1. 3D printed buildings Fig. 2. Building 3D printing process

2 Research Status of Architectural 3D Printing

Researchers at home and abroad carry out research on architectural 3D printing from
two different research perspectives. One is to study key issues such as machinery and
materials of digital construction technology from an engineering perspective, such as
Ding Lieyun from Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Feng Peng from
Tsinghua University [1]. The other is to explore the new logic, theory and working mode
brought by digital construction technology in architectural design. The business commu-
nity is inclined to explore the industrial application of 3D printing digital construction
technology in architecture.
There are still a lot of technical problems in building 3D printing from the full
application of the real industry. First, there is the issue of printing materials. As mentioned
above, due to the lack of mechanical properties of materials, the existing building 3D
printing is still in the contour printing stage. To date, none of the materials used for 3D
construction of buildings (cement-based materials, carbon fiber, nylon fiber, and steel
fiber) can achieve the ductility of steel; Secondly, the structural weakening caused by
construction stratification has not been solved.
Strictly speaking, “concrete layered spray and extruding superposition” is only the
outer outline printing of the building, as shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, and is not a 3D
printing of the building in the true sense.

Fig. 3. The order of 3D printing Fig. 4. 3D printed outline of the

reinforcement
 Research on Materials for Concrete (Mortar) 3D Printing Fabricated Components 265

2.1 The Printing Material Lacks Sufficient Strength and Ductility

According to the Code for Seismic Design of Buildings GB5011–2010, “The measured
value of the total elongation of the steel bar under the maximum tension should not be
less than 9%, and the elongation should not be less than 20%”. The excellent tensile
ductility of the steel bar, coupled with the correct structural design and construction,
the traditional reinforced concrete structure has enough ductility. However, at this stage,
metal 3D printing mostly uses “laser sintering”, that is, the technology of sintering
powder compact with laser as a heat source. The high cost and energy consumption of
this technology make it difficult to apply to practical projects. In contrast, concrete is
made of hydraulic gels, sand, stone and industrial wastes (such as fly ash and mineral
powder), which is inexpensive and has excellent room temperature plasticity, making
it a natural 3D printing material. However, because of its low tensile strength and poor
tensile ductility, concrete cannot be used for structural construction alone.
To improve the mechanical properties of concrete, the researchers reinforced the 3D-
printed mortar with fibers such as glass fiber, steel fiber, and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA).
According to the existing literature, the tensile strength of the most ductile PVA fiber
reinforced cement-based composite is about 3 MPa – 7 MPa, and the corresponding
tensile strain is 2%– 4%, which is still lower than the level of construction steel. Due
to the lack of mechanical properties, ordinary fiber reinforced concrete still can not be
used as a single structural material [2]. The lack of mechanical properties of materials
is one of the main problems that architectural 3D printing stays at the contour printing
level. Therefore, to achieve true 3D printing of buildings, we must first break through
the material barrier.

2.2 Mechanical Problems Caused by Layered Printing

Architectural 3D printing mostly uses “extrusion hardening molding technology”, which
extrudes materials through the nozzle and lays them layer by layer, and the materials
between layers are discontinuous. Even if the mechanical properties of the material meet
the requirements, the interlayer interface will still be a weak link. Under the action of
different forms of loads, the beam, wall and column members printed in layers will be
separated or slipped, thus reducing the bearing capacity and stiffness of the members.
The material layering causes the mechanical properties of the components to weaken,
which is another reason why the 3D printing of buildings is still in the “contour printing”
stage at this stage [3].

3 Research on New Materials for Building 3D Printing

At present, the materials commonly used in this field are fiber-reinforced cement-based
composite materials and shell mother-of-pearl bionic structures. The following will
highlight the application of two materials:

3.1 Research and Application of Fiber-Reinforced Cement-Based Composites

(1) Foreign studies
266 N. Liu et al.

Over the past 30 years, researchers around the world have tried to apply ECC mate-
rials to structural engineering. Billington [4] pointed out that in addition to collapse
resistance, the structure using ECC also has high damage resistance, and the resid-
ual crack width after damage is small, which can greatly reduce the repair cost. As
for the application of reinforced ECC in the field of construction, foreign researchers
have conducted a large number of experimental studies, and the test objects are mostly
structural members under low cyclic load, including beams, columns, beam-column
connecting members [6], filled walls, frames, piers [5], and connecting beams. Damp-
ing memberet al. These studies have proved that ECC has good seismic performance
and minimal post-earthquake repair cost. It is worth noting that reinforced ECC also
exhibits high ductility behavior under shear stress, high energy absorption behavior, sta-
ble hysteresis ring under large lateral displacement, and structural integrity. The most
important characteristic of ECC is its tensile ductility. Even when the steel bar reaches
plastic yield, ECC can still coordinate deformation with the steel bar. In addition, the
impact resistance of ECC has also passed the test. Tests by Maalej et al. confirmed that
ECC plates subjected to high-speed projectile impact had little damage, good integrity,
multi-slit distribution cracking, and strong energy dissipation.
(2) Domestic research
Gao Danying and Zhu Haitang et al. [7] of Zhengzhou University conducted a series
of experiments and theoretical studies on steel fiber and hybrid fiber concrete. Zhang Jun
et al. from Tsinghua University conducted research on cement-based materials reinforced
by steel fiber, polyvinyl alcohol fiber and wood fiber. Zhang Zhigang team of Chongqing
University proposed an effective method to reduce shrinkage of high-toughness fiber-
reinforced cement-based composites, which solved the difficult problem in this field.
Deng Zongcai et al. [8] from Beijing University of Technology conducted material
property tests on a variety of fiber concrete, including cellulose fiber, polypropylene fiber,
modified acrylic fiber, alkali-resistant glass fiber, PVA fiber, etc. Bu Liangtao et al. from
Hunan University conducted a study on the interface between various fiber reinforced
mortar and concrete, proposed a method for on-site detection of fiber reinforced mortar,
and studied the application of fiber reinforced mortar in the reinforcement of existing
concrete structures.
In recent years, Guo Liping et al. successfully produced ecological and high ductility
cement-based composites (ECC) using domestic PVA fibers [9]. The tensile properties
of ECC material prepared by domestic PVA fiber reach the world’s advanced level [10],
but the fiber cost is only 1/5 of the imported fiber from Japan.

3.2 Research Status of Biomimetic Structure of Shell Mother-of-Pearl

The typical characteristic of mother-of-pearl structure is “brick-mud” structure. “Brick”

mainly refers to micron-scale wafers such as bioactive ceramics, calcium carbonate, and
“mud” mainly refers to proteins. To mimic this “brick-mud” structure, many synthetic
two-dimensional structures at the nano–or micron scale are used as “bricks” and poly-
mers as “mud”. Luz et al. have made a comprehensive review of biomimetic materials
imitating mother-of-pearl structures. Mother of Pearl is the innermost layer of the shell
and provides important strength and toughness to the shell.
 Research on Materials for Concrete (Mortar) 3D Printing Fabricated Components 267

The excellent mechanical properties of Mother of Pearl are due to its multi-scale-
layered micro–and nano-structure form. The first is the micron-scale “brick-mud” multi-
layer aragonite structure, with approximately hexagonal aragonite sheets layered on top
of each other, and the interface is bonded by organic matter. Secondly, there are more
subtle secondary structures on the surface of the aragonite sheet: nanoscale rough bulges
and mineral Bridges. The rough protrusion makes the adjacent layers interlock with each
other, forming part of “self-locking”. In addition, there are inorganic mineral Bridges
running through the arvinite pieces, forming a unique “brick-bridge-mud” multi-level
structure model.

4 New Material Research of UHTCC

Regarding the problem of “printing materials lacking sufficient strength and ductility”,
the research team has a preliminary solution. This project is supported by the research
team of Associate Professor Zhang Zhigang, School of Civil Engineering, Chongqing
University. The lead researcher of this team learned the preparation method of Engineered
cementitious composites (ECC, also known as UHTCC) for special fiber concrete during
his study abroad. In the following years, the research team changed the original design
method to prepare a cement-based composite with higher strength and ductility. The
tensile strength of the material is up to 20 MPa, which is equivalent to the compressive
strength of ordinary concrete. The highest compressive strength reaches 150 MPa, and
the corresponding uniaxial tensile strain reaches more than 8% – 12%, which has the
ductility level of conventional steel. The bending test of beams shows that the bearing
capacity of unreinforced beams cast with this material is equivalent to that of ordinary
reinforced concrete beams with reinforcement ratio of 1.5%. The team then improved
the material further. When the compressive strength is not higher than 35 MPa, the
material shows the characteristics of compression strengthening, and the corresponding
limit uniaxial tensile strain exceeds 6%, becoming a cement-based material that may be
strengthened under both tension and pressure. Due to its excellent deformation ability,
the material is named Ultra-high ductile cementitious composites, or UHDCC for short.
The emergence of this material makes it possible to use 3D printing technology to build
buildings without reinforcement.
Preliminary tests have been carried out in this project, and the toughening effect of
stratified beams has been preliminatively proved through the trial test. Figure 5 shows the
four-point flexural load-displacement curves of the full-cast, 5-story and 10-story beams.
The layered UDHCC substrate achieves the crack deflection between layers during
loading. However, due to the use of hydrophobic dielectric layer (polyethylene film), the
interlayer adhesion is too small, and the interlayer slip occurs prematurely, resulting in
a decrease in stiffness and strength. Compared with the whole cast beam, the strength of
the layered cast beam has decreased, but the ductility has been significantly improved,
and its energy dissipation capacity has increased by more than 1 times. According to the
existing test results, after further improvement, it is entirely possible to give consideration
to the bending capacity and ductility of the members cast by layers, and the toughening
effect is remarkable, which provides a reliable test basis for the smooth development of
the project.
268 N. Liu et al.

Force

Displaceme
(mm)

Fig. 5. Tentative test of layered assembly beams

5 Conclusion
(1) Commonly used mineral fibers (such as glass fiber, carbon fiber or basalt fiber, etc.)
or biological fibers can improve the cracking resistance of concrete, but the effect
against tensile strength and ductility is limited; Steel fiber can obviously improve the
tensile strength of concrete, but in the best case, the tensile ductility is 0.5%-1.0%.
The tensile strength of the specially designed polyvinyl alcohol fiber reinforced
cement based composite (PVA-ECC) is about 3 MPa – 7 MPa. Its tensile limit strain
is about 2% to 4%, which is still lower than the ductility level of construction steel.
Due to the lack of mechanical properties, ordinary high performance cement-based
composite materials can not be used as structural materials alone. The compressive
strength and tensile strength of the materials used by the project team range from
30 MPa to 150 MPa, and from 5 MPa to 20 MPa, with an average tensile strain
of 8% and a maximum tensile strain of more than 12%, which is close to the level
of construction steel. The emergence of this material makes it possible to 3D print
buildings without ribs.
(2) According to the existing research results, there are two main methods for artificial
synthesis of “brick-mud” structure, one is to self-assemble the structural framework
with inorganic nanomaterials, and then fill the polymer into the gap of the nanoframe.
Another method is to form the mother-of-pearl structure by self-assembling the
polymer with the two-dimensional inorganic assembly unit. However, due to the
different construction materials and construction scales, these micro-level methods
are difficult to apply in the field of civil engineering. So far, in the field of civil
engineering, there are few reports about the results of mother-of-pearl structure
 Research on Materials for Concrete (Mortar) 3D Printing Fabricated Components 269

bionics. For the research object of this application, it is a very challenging research
task to use what materials and how to carry out this super-structure bionics.
(3) The research team’s novel material layered UDHCC substrate achieves crack deflec-
tion between layers. The ductility has been significantly improved, and its energy
consumption capacity has been increased by more than 1 times. According to the
existing test results, it is possible to give consideration to both flexural capacity and
ductility, and the toughening effect is remarkable.

Acknowledgements. The research supported by the Science and Technology Research Program
of Chongqing Municipal Education Commission (Grant No.KJQN202305204). The research
project is “Study on the strength and toughness mechanism of 3D printed cement-based com-
posite materials based on shell bionic structure”. I would like to thank ChongQing College of
Architecture and Technology for providing research fund support for this project, and the last
thanks to the efforts of the team members, we believe that our project will get very good results.

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