Development of concrete mixtures for use as material for additive manufacturing
Papachristoforou, Michail
In the recent years, research has been conducted on implementing additive manufacturing technologies in the building construction sector by using concrete as raw material. The first aim of this dissertation was to identify and present all the advantageous characteristics and challenges of concrete additive manufacturing. Secondly, an experimental program was conducted in order to develop new concrete mixtures prepared with different materials that can be used for specific applications. Expanded perlite, limestone and olivine were used as aggregates in order to produce light, normal and heavy weight concrete respectively. The properties of concrete mixtures produced with these aggregates at fresh and hardened state were tested and compared. Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs) were also added in concrete in order to increase the strength and provide piezoelectric behaviour. Finally, concrete additive manufacturing was implemented and relation between buildability and workability was established. Results showed that effective mixtures can be produced with these materials and applied in various applications, using the concrete additive manufacturing process.
