Reinforcements in 3D printing concrete structures

Abstract

3D printing of concrete structures has had a strong development in recent years, enhanced by the advantages it presents over traditional construction. However, it currently still has some limitations. One of those limitations is to incorporate the reinforcements into the automated 3D printing process. The objective of this work is to present a review of the methods that have been used so far to reinforce the structures. The different methods used will be presented focusing on the reinforcement by the use of fibers. The properties of the fibers, lengths, and percentages of the same used in the mixtures will be analyzed. The results of the different tests will be shown making a comparison between the values obtained from the tests carried out with the printed and molded materials. Finally, the increases in the results of the tests that these fibers provide with respect to the samples without them will be analyzed.