A Study on Early Age Properties of Concrete for Precast and 3D Printing

Concrete is the second-most consumed material, leading the global Portland cement production of 4.1 billion tons in 2020 and 5-8% of global Carbon dioxide (CO₂) emission annually. As with any other material and practice, the construction industry is also ever-changing to meet market demand, evolving technology, and resource limitation. In the case of concrete construction, one of the main concerns is the lack of automation. In the last few decades, some new construction methods have risen to address this concern. Some of these economic and successful practices are precast construction, self-compacting concrete (SCC), and 3D printing of concrete(3DPC). Precast concrete and 3DPC have the potential to enhance productivity and to curve the adverse environmental and social effects of conventional construction activities by reducing the required formwork, material waste, operation time, and cost. This study explores the effect of parameters like fiber geometry, binder composition, and workability retention of concrete, on the short-term and long-term performance of high early strength concrete and printed concrete. Understanding the influence of the above-mentioned parameter on the performance of concrete will help develop a safe design of concrete and optimize the construction process with higher efficiency.