Extrusion based additive manufacturing of cementitious materials has demonstrated strong potential to become widely used in the construction industry. However, the use of this technique in practice is conditioned by a feasible solution to implement reinforcement in such automated process. One of the most successful ductile materials in civil engineering, strain hardening cementitious composites (SHCC) have a high potential to be employed for three-dimensional printing. The match between the tailored brittle matrix and ductility of the fibres enables these composites to develop multiple cracks when loaded under tension. Using previously developed mixtures, this study investigates the physical and mechanical performance of printed SHCC. The anisotropic behavior of the materials is explored by means of mechanical tests in several directions and micro computed tomography tests. The results demonstrated a composite showing strain hardening behavior in two directions explained by the fibre orientation found in the printed elements. Moreover, the printing technique used also has guaranteed an enhanced bond in between the printed layers.

Recent years have seen a rapid growth of additive manufacturing methods for concrete construction. Potential advantages include reduced material use and cost, reduced labor, mass customization and CO2 footprint reduction. None of these methods, however, has yet been able to produce additively manufactured concrete with material properties suitable for structural applications, i.e. ductility and (flexural) tensile strength. In order to make additive manufacturing viable as a production method for structural concrete, a quality leap had to be made. In the project ‘3D Concrete Printing for Structural Applications’, 3 concepts have been explored to achieve the required structural performance: applying steel fiber reinforcement to an existing printable concrete mortar, developing a strain-hardening cementitious composite based on PVA fibers, and embedding high strength steel cable as reinforcement in the concrete filament. Whereas the former produced only an increase in flexural tensile strength, but limited post-peak resistance, the latter two provided promising strain hardening behavior, thus opening the road to a wide range of structural applications of 3D printed concrete.

New additive manufacturing methods for cementitious materials hold a high potential to increase automation in the construction industry. However, these methods require new materials to be developed that meet performance requirements related to specific characteristics of the manufacturing process. The appropriate characterization methods of these materials are still a matter of debate. This study proposes a rheology investigation to systematically develop a printable strain hardening cementitious composite mix design. Two known mixtures were employed and the influence of several parameters, such as the water-to-solid ratio, fibre volume percentage and employment of chemical admixtures, were investigated using a ram extruder and Benbow-Bridgwater equation. Through printing trials, rheology parameters as the initial bulk and shear yield stress were correlated with variables commonly employed to assess printing quality of cementitious materials. The rheology properties measured were used to predict the number of layers a developed mixture could support. Selected mixtures had their mechanical performance assessed through four-point bending, uni-axial tensile and compressive strength tests, to confirm that strain hardening behaviour was obtained. It was concluded that the presented experimental and theoretical framework are promising tools, as the bulk yield stress seems to predict buildability, while shear yield stress may indicate a threshold for pumpability.