Digital Concrete: A Review

By T. Wangler, Nicolas Roussel, Fred Bos, Tam Theo Salet, Robert J. Flatt. Cement and Concrete Research, 2019

512 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract Digital fabrication techniques with concrete and cementitious materials have seen a large amount of research and industrial activity recently, with industrialization of techniques such as 3D printing becoming more of a reality. The potential to revolutionize construction is real, not only through reducing costs, but also bringing more sustainability and increased functionality. Material challenges are significant, chief among them understanding and controlling early age hydration and the link to rheology, incorporation of reinforcement, and overall, the link between processing, material, and performance, both from a structural and durability point of view. Interdisciplinarity is crucial, as the field brings together many disparate fields and has been driven by fields such as architecture so far. This article is a review of the state of the art in the newly forming field of digital fabrication with concrete, and aims to provide some direction in terms of the research challenges encountered thus far.

Subfields: Automotive Engineering, Building and Construction

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/59ae2adac2a4073c3ce9e71dd9bd62af2c186186

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Citations in the corpus

Automated crack detection and measurement based on digital image correlation (2020, unknown): “reinforcement and digital fabrication methods [1,2].”
Structural behaviour of 3D printed concrete beams with various reinforcement strategies (2021, methodology): “Currently, this technology is being researched and developed all around the world [3,7].”
On the emergence of 3D printable Engineered, Strain Hardening Cementitious Composites (ECC/SHCC) (2020, background): “include binder-jetting, robotically controlled concrete spraying, and adaptive sliding formwork [8].”
Integrating reinforcement in digital fabrication with concrete: A review and classification framework (2021, background): “Over the last five years, enormous progress has been achieved both in terms of establishing scientific fundamentals for the purposeful design of DFC processes; see, for example, [1].”
Investigation of the properties of alkali-activated slag mixes involving the use of nanoclay and nucleation seeds for 3D printing (2020, background): “The 6 expected benefits of 3D concrete printing are higher productivity, shorter construction periods, 7 higher geometrical freedom and more efficient use of natural resources [5].”
3D-printable engineered cementitious composites (3DP-ECC): Fresh and hardened properties (2021, methodology): “Extrusion-based 3D concrete printing (3DCP) is a digital construction method developed in recent decades [1], attracting worldwide attention in industry [2] and academy [3,4].”
A review of 3D printed concrete: Performance requirements, testing measurements and mix design (2020, background): “6 The interface bond strength of 3DPC is related to several process parameters [4] The properties of 3DPC also play a role in the interface bond strength.”
Improving printability of limestone-calcined clay-based cementitious materials by using viscosity-modifying admixture (2020, background): “[11], a relatively high cement content in the mix design of digital concrete is needed to satisfy the rheological requirements during the manufacturing process, neutralizes the benefit of material-efficient designs.”