See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/333673859

DEVELOPMENTS OF 3D CONCRETE PRINTING PROCESS

Conference Paper · April 2019

CITATIONS READS

0 4,072

2 authors:

Yeşim Tarhan Remzi Şahin

Ataturk University Ataturk University
5 PUBLICATIONS   5 CITATIONS    26 PUBLICATIONS   773 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

DEVELOPMENTS OF 3D CONCRETE PRINTING PROCESS View project

Effect of Mineral Additive Type and Ratio on Radon Gas Emanation of Self-Compacting Concrete View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Yeşim Tarhan on 10 June 2019.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 DEVELOPMENTS OF 3D CONCRETE PRINTING PROCESS
1 2
,
1
University, Engineering Fac., Dept. Of Civil Engineering, Research Assistant, Erzurum, Turkey
2
University, Engineering Fac., Dept. of Civil Engineering, Professor, Erzurum, Turkey

Abstract

The 3D Printer is a device which is designed to produce scanned 3-D models on a computer by using various
materials, without - need for an extra mold. 3D production is also known as a production method for desktop
manufacturing or "additive manufacturing (AM)". In this technology which is known as rapid prototyping, 3D
computer design is transformed into a real object. By the 3D printer technology, low material usage, light weight
products and design of multi-function components are made available. This technology-3D printer- which has
been adopted in the manufacturing industry for decades, has recently been used in the construction industry for
rapid and practical production of houses and villas. This technology can provide significant benefits to the
construction industry in terms of building construction, reduced construction time, workforce and construction
cost. In other words, 3D concrete printer technology provides the opportunity to use a wide range of materials,
providing more freedom in both architectural and structural design and allowing the production of low cost
structures and building elements due to high speed of production without moulds or scaffolding. Compared to
traditional building construction techniques, 3D printing technology should be considered as an environment
friendly product that offers virtually unlimited possibilities to implement structures that involve geometric
complexity. However, in industrial applications of 3D concrete, there are disadvantages in using this technology,
such as material-mixture formulation, lack of standard and interfacial connection quality between overlapping
layers. For the production of 3D concrete, a multidisciplinary effort is required such as material science,
architecture/design, engineering- and robotics knowledge. Despite of the comprehensive work on this technology
by several leading and different companies and institutions all over the world, it was noticed that the
construction industry has not been fully successful in the development of the 3D layered production technique.
In spite of continuing efforts in overall the world, this technology is still inadequate. 3D concrete technology is a
promising technique that can make huge changes in the construction industry. 3D concrete production method,
which is the future concrete technology, should be developed rapidly with the scientific studies and R & D
studies of the firms in the production sector and a worldwide awareness should be taken into consideration. In
this study, the development of 3D concrete printing from its beginning until the present is discussed.

Keywords: Additive manufacturing; Construction cost; Environmental effects; Mass customization; 3D concrete
printing technology

1. Introduction

Concrete, which is obtained by mixing aggregate, water and cement in certain proportions is one of the most
consumed materials commercially. Portland cement is the most important component of concrete which make a
significant revolution in the last century. In 2013, world cement production was approximately 4 billion tons.
Relating to the previous situation, approximately 26.7 billion tons of aggregate and 2.7 billion tons of water were
consumed, which makes it clear that 33.4 billion tons of concrete have been consumed in 2013 (Justnes and
irports, ditches, sea
walls, waste and freshwater power plants and networks, all these buildings and their infrastructures are based on
the widespread usage of concrete. The developments in the energy sector and the continually climate change will
lead to an increasing demand for concrete. Significant amounts of concrete which are required for renewable
energy installations, such as wind farms and the rise of the ocean level will probably require the construction of
thousands of kilometers of dam (Damme 2018).
Nowadays, 3D printer technology is used in many fields and it has different usage areas every day; like industrial
manufacturing, medicine and health, aerospace, architecture and construction, military applications, textiles,
food, and education. By comparing all these areas, the construction industry is still behind the development of
3D printing production. The positive impact of 3D printing on the construction industry should not be
underestimated, as it will reduce the various determinants of the entire project, such as construction, material,
costs and time. For the first time in 1984, by Charles (Chuck) Hull, a 3-dimensional object production using
numerical information was realized (Nadarajah 2018). The 3D digital model is converted to STL
(Stereolithography) format and sent to the 3D printer. The 3D printing creates a concrete object by building it
layer by layer. Previously it was known as Rapid Prototyping. The 3-D printing technology uses a small amount
of material, thus, introduces lightness into the products and makes it possible to design multi-functional
components.

Figure 1. Comparison of traditional construction and 3D printing construction process (Nadarajah 2018)

Some advantages of production by using 3D concrete printing are listed as follows;

produce complex and limitless possibilities of new architectural designs.

method, limits concrete consumption by using concrete only
where it is needed.

ulds.
The digital production type can work with a digital design type that perfectly matches the Building Information
Model.

There are several methods of discovering products with 3D printing. Almost all of these methods are based on
layering method. This means that the main concept of these technologies is Additive Manufacturing (AM)

1.1. Additive manufacturing

Additive manufacturing is defined as a process of joining materials to make objects from 3D model data, usually
layer upon layer, as opposed to subtractive manufacturing methodologies by the ASTM. The synonymous usages
are: Additive fabrication, additive processes, additive techniques, additive layer manufacturing, layer
manufacturing, and freeform fabrication (ASTM F2792-10). Usually, AM technologies includes use of a
computer, 3D modeling software (Computer Aided Design (CAD)), machine equipment, and layering material
all together as presented in Figure 2. After a CAD draft is generated, the file is transferred to the AM equipment
and the machine reads the data from the CAD file. After that the object is created in its three-dimensional shape
by placing the material in layers one on top of the other. To create the object different materials like: powder,
liquid and metal plates (Chang 2016) can be used.

Figure 2. Generalized Additive Manufacturing Process (Campbell et al. 2011).

The layered production process has being used since the mid 1960s, and there have several developments in the
material usage. Since the mid of the 1990s, this process has been used in concrete production (Bos et al. 2016).
The term layered production includes several technologies that can rapidly generate similar objects, such as
Rapid Prototyping (RP), Direct Digital Manufacturing (DDM), Layered Manufacturing (LM) and 3D printing.
Layered production, today commonly known as 3D printing, which has been very effective in reducing the
production cost process duration (Nadarajah 2018). AM has significant advantages in the construction industry.
For example, AM provides reduction inwaste materials up to 30 % and energy consumption, in situ production,
reduction in use of raw materials and CO2 emissions and still more architectural/design and other advantages as
compared with general techniques (Gebler et al. 2014; Bos et al. 2016). However, AM processes often include
disadvantages to conventional construction and manufacturing processes, such as slow print speed, high
precision, surface quality, the need for careful selection of materials and low mechanical properties (Hopkinson
et al. 2006). AM processes are used in design production in the aerospace and automotive industries, the
manufacture of small parts are used in medical applications and architectural modeling. Research in free-form
structures began in 1997. Pegna (1997) showed that the complexity of the construction process could be
simplified by restructuring with a number of basic operations and that three-dimensional form could be obtained
by layered production by leaving a layer of reactive material (Portland cement) on a sheet. After this initiative,
large-scale construction sector started adopting AM techniques.

The use of AM may be changed according to the designer's working method and design processes. In this
regard, there are currently three large-scale AM processes worldwide; i- Contour Crafting (America), ii- D-shape
(Italy), and iii-Concrete Printing (UK).

All these three methods have proven that components of considerable size can be successfully produced and are
suitable for construction and/or architectural applications and have begun to replace traditional construction
processes.

1.1.1. Contour crafting (CC)

One of the major developments in AM technologies related to the construction industry is Contour Crafting (Lim
et al. 2012), a layered production technology using robotic arms and extrusion nozzles. The first usage of the
Contour Crafting (CC) technique, which is one of the origins of 3D concrete printing and is still used, can be
seen in the early publications by Khoshnevis and Bekey (1998) (University of Southern California). The
development of that technique from that time until now has shown serious development. Polymer, ceramic paste,
cement, and various other materials and mixtures were used in the layered production method used to create
large-scale objects with a smooth finished surface (Wolfs 2015). The CC process is a process that simulates the
traditional construction process but is carried out with some automation. The CC process is an interesting
concept, the mould is not disposed of and becomes a part of the wall, it requires three separate steps as molding,
reinforcement and placement, the height of building layer is around to 20 mm. In the CC method, various
materials such as coarse aggregates, reinforcing fibers, additives can also be used, and may also deflect the
nozzle to form non-orthogonal surfaces such as domes and vaults. With Contour Crafting, NASA has also been
interested in space research management. From the experiments on the CC, it was observed that the method was
also promising in possible constructions on the moon (Khoshnevis and Zhang
et al. 2018).

1.1.2. D-shape
Enrico Dini, an Italian civil engineer invented a 3D printer called D-shape. It was created in 2004 claiming the
world first construction scale 3D printing technology that consolidates crushed dolomitic limestone into a
solid-stone material. Enrico's aim was to use locally available materials to form 3D printed structures. The binder
was a natural one that was tested successfully against a wide variety of crushed stone aggregates, such as
volcanic rock and marble (Nadarajah 2018; Anonymous 2019(a)). The D-shape process is based on injecting a
binder into the material layer. The process aims to print architectural works using an inorganic binder with sand
in 5-10 mm layers. The method uses a powder deposition process that is very similar to the ink-jet powder
printing process in which the binder is used, so that the desired layers of the printing materials are shaped
(Cesaretti et al. 2014). The disadvantage of such processes is that they require more maintenance, cleaning and
-treatment shape. Part of
the post-processing process involves removing the unused building dust and grinding and polishing the surface
(Lim et al. 2009). The D-Shape is a huge 3D printing process that is designed and built digitally from the
basement floor to the roof, including foundations, partitions, ceilings, staircases, gaps.
1.1.3. Concrete printing (CP)
Concrete Printing is another large-scale 3D construction process. it is similar to ContourCrafting with concrete
printing because the print head used for the cement mortar extrusion is also mounted on a top crane. The printing
nozzle moves along a pre-programmed path and continuously extrudes the concrete materials. Compared to
Contour crafting, the 3D CP method has less deposition resolution, which allows better control of complex
geometries. CP has the potential to produce highly customized construction components (Ma et al. 2018). Unlike
D-Shape, CP uses a single spool nozzle, which means that only the required volume of material is stored for the
structure; however, the single nozzle approach inevitably limits the deposition rate, because the nozzle must
circulate around the entire structure area (Lim et al. 2012). As in most AM processes, the process is based on
extrusion by using a cement based mortar that provides data preparation, material preparation, mechanical and
other properties (Lim et al. 2011). In the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering at Loughborough
University, the technique of concrete printing (CP) has been developed for using in extrusion-based construction
processes in a manner similar to CC. In addition to achieve 100 MPa of compressive strength and a bending
strength of 10 MPa in 28 days, a high-performance printing concrete has been developed based on workability,
extrudability and buildability requirements (Le et al. 2012 (a); Le et al. 2012 (b)). Figure 3. shows the elements
in which CC, D-shape and CP methods are produced.

a b c

Figure 3. a: Schematic representation of Detached Houses produced by CC (Anonymous 2019(b)), b Radiolaria

designed by Andrea Morgante and printed with D-shape (Anonymous 2019(a)
m) produced by CP (Loughborough University, Lim et. al. 2011).

2. Developments and Requirements

2.1. Developments in the 3D concrete printing technology

In the last few years, 3D printing concrete concept has been developed around the world. The use of concrete
and cement-based materials in combination with 3D printing continues to grow with time. In this context, the
process, which started with small non-structural applications, started to produce large scale structures with the
increase of large-scale companies that adopt and develop the 3D printing method. Below is a list of some of the
worldwide examples on 3D concrete printing productions.

a b c

d e f
 g h i j
Figure 4. a: Multi-storey houses produced in China by Winsun (Anonymous 2019(c) ), b: 3D Dubai R & D
Laboratory by CyBe (Anonymous 209(d)), c: 3D concrete printing house produced in Russia by Apis Cor
(Anonymous 2019(e)) , d: Castle in Minnesota, USA and Hotel suite interior in the Philippines by Total Kustom
(Anonymous 2019(f)), e: Gaia is a sample home by WASP (Anonymous 2019(g) -En-Provence
by XtreE (Anonymous 2019(h)), g: Office building in Dubai by Winsun (Anonymous 2019(i)), h: The first 3D
printed pedestrian bridge in China by Tsinghua University (Anonymous 2019(j)), i: Bridge produced by 3D
concrete for cyclists in 2017 by Eindhoven University of Technology ( Anonymous 2019(k)) , j: Urban furniture
Anonymous 2019(l)).

2.2. Requirements of concrete for 3D printing

In the last few years, 3D printing concrete concept has been developed around the world. The use of concrete
and cement-based materials in combination with 3D printing continues to grow with time. In this context, the
process, which started with small non-structural applications, started to produce large scale structures with the
increase of large-scale companies that adopt and develop the 3D printing method. Below is a list of some of the
worldwide examples on 3D concrete printing productions.

The following key properties of concrete needs improvement in order to successfully 3D print concrete
structures:

Extrudability: Extrusion process is the ability of concrete to pass through a concrete pump, transmission
pipe and spray nozzle without any change in its physical properties. Good extrudability is achieved by
co-application of Self-Compacting Concrete and Shotcrete principles to the mixture design (Le et al.
2012 (a)). The concrete must have a smooth flow rate to allow the printer to pour into layers on top of
each other. If the structure has a lot of architectural detail, the printing speed must be adjusted
accordingly, so the system does not waste the extrusion material and the quality of the concrete printed
material is flawless. Excessive build-up of concrete during printing results in poor surface coating
resulting from incorrect control of the system (Nadarajah 2018). The construction of concrete layers
with extrusion and the fresh concrete properties of 3D concrete is mentioned in many studies, but a
suitable test method has not been defined to evaluate this concrete property.

Buildability: Buildability can be defined as the ability of the underlying concrete layer to harden and
carry the other layers before the next concrete layer is placed on the printed layer. In that way, a suitable
platform is provided for the construction of the concrete on each floor. Extrudability and Buildability
are the most important features of concrete in 3D printing. The requirements of both of them are related
to the workability of concrete (Le et al. (2012) (a)). Bos et al. (2016) found that in the 3D production
method, the sub-layers should not deform by the weight of the top-layer, but also the interlayers must
adhere and they have to be well connected with the upper layers to be able to form. Factors that affect
Buildability are: Chemical admixtures, temperature and using of less gypsum cement.

Workability: The quality of the final printed structure is significantly influenced by the properties of the
fresh concrete after being poured, remain intact and have sufficient workability (can be extruded)and
does not collapse under a load of successive layers. Conventional methods for evaluating workability
include the slump, compression factor and flow tests for which various national standards are available.
The workability of 3D printing concrete is affected by small changes in environmental conditions
(temperature, humidity, raw material moisture etc.) (Papachristoforou et al. 2018). To increase the
workability of the 3D concrete mixture viscosity modifying agent should be added and the mixture must
have a small particle size to suit the nozzle diameter. The adjustment of the workability of 3D concrete
for pumpability and extrudability is similar to the wet process production of the Shotcrete Concrete
(Lim et al. 2011). It is essential that viscosity modifying agents are used in 3D concrete printing.
Because, these agents change the rheology by adding thixotropic properties to the concrete. By this
way, the viscosity of the concrete decreases when the force is applied provides comfortable workability
 and good pumpability, and when the application of power stops, the viscosity increases so that a good
skid resistance is obtained

Open time: The workability time of a cement material is generally associated with the setting time,
measured by a Vicat. This equipment is designed to determine the start and end time of the setting, and
cannot be used to characterize the change in the workability of fresh concrete over time. Several studies
have been carried out to monitor the change in workability over time using the crash test. However, it is
not appropriate to perform a crash test to determine the open time duration. Measuring the sliding force
over time gives more informative results in terms of measuring workability. The Open time period is
determined as the period of time when the workability of fresh concrete for 3D concrete is sufficient to
maintain extrudability (Le et al. 2012 (a)). This means that the open time is the time during which the
3D concrete's Pumpability, Printability and Buildability are consistent within acceptable tolerances.

Contact strength between layers: In placing the concrete on top of each other, the interfacial adherence
must be strong in order to obtain a solid structure. Therefore, the concrete should not be in a hardened
condition, but instead of hydrating the concrete, the preceding layer should continue when concrete is
placed on the surface. In other words, the cold joint must not occur. To ensure this, some researchers
have emphasized the importance of the shape of the layers. The shape of layers can be modified by
varying the printing nozzle's shapes (Bos et al. 2016). Besides the size and shape of nozzles, the printer
should rotate 90 degrees around the corners in order to shape the corners accurately for the structure. To
provide corners of 90 degrees, the versatility of the 3D concrete printer is taken into consideration and
tested many times before actual printing (Wolfs 2015).

Aggregates: Aggregates play a very important role in the process of 3D concrete. The type and size of
aggregate used in the concrete mixture have an effect on the load-bearing capacity of the structure.
Nozzle sizes change between 20 mm and 40 mm. Accordingly, the size of the aggregates should be
greater than 4-6 mm in order to prevent the nozzle from blocking. The use of coarse aggregates also
leads to instability in the printing structure, causing collapse of the structure formation (Nadarajah
2018).

Water-cement ratio: The water-cement ratios have been experimented from 0.25-0.44 by various
researchers. The use of the minimum amount of water with superplasticizers is important for the better
adhesion of concrete. In addition, it was determined that the addition of materials such as fly ash, silica
fume and slag could be beneficial to the mixture if it is added by 5 to 30% of the total binder volume
(Nadarajah 2018).

Since till now there are very few articles about the material composition and properties for 3D concrete, but there
is a known fact that 3D concrete should be designed to be extruded from a nozzle to form the top-layer structural
components. The result of this mixture requires a plasticizer to increase the workability and the use of material
with fine particle sizes so that it can flow freely from the nozzle diameter.

3. Challenges and Opportunities

In recent years, an automatic layer by layer production process, 3D concrete printing technology, has started to
attract attention in the construction industry. Moreover, the development of AM is described as a new revolution
in the construction industry. 3D concrete printing technology is not yet an isolated solution that can solve all
problems in the construction industry because it is still under development. Although several studies have been
carried out in the construction sector but still now there is a need to continue working on this technology to
understand its role in the construction industry and reach its maximum potential. With developing in the field of
robotics 3D printing technology will be developed in order to overcome these limitations at the same time (Wu
et al. 2016; Camacho et al. 2018; De Schutter et al. 2018).

In the early studies, it was thought that 3D printing technologies may not be suitable to create large-scale models
or structures (Gibson et al. 2002). These claims were doubled because of using the small size of 3D printers in
the initial phase of technology. On the other hand, with the development of new 3D printers in recent years,
many large-scale models or structures have been created using these large-scale 3D printers (Wu et al. 2016).
Samples are presented in Figure 4.
In addition to the size of the printers, the materials play a very important role in 3D printing. In the construction
industry, almost all of the AM production work is focused on concrete. This has led to very limited availability
of the currently owned material palette. The durability and mechanical characteristics of the printed products
using the latest printing materials must be high performance for the use of 3D technology in large scale models
and structures. However, due to the difficulty of having high-strength printing materials, it is thought that 3D
printing cannot be used in large scale models and structures. But it has been proven that it may be as effective as
various materials modified and high-strength printing materials. Also, the strength of the conventional concrete
can be obtained in large-scale structures from printing concrete

Looking at the current state of the 3D printing materials, it is seen that there is still not enough focusing on
material properties. The studies on concrete are mainly related to the initial strength and long-term strength,
mainly the load-bearing capacity parameter. Although the materials used for 3D printing technology are
examined in terms of their load resistance capacity, they are rarely examined for their fire resistance, durability
and thermal properties. When material performance is checked in detail, some mechanical and physical
properties may be poorly observed. According to the information obtained from the studies, an appropriate
mixture design and effective curing measures should be developed to ensure the expected performance.
Although there are some developments for the production of 3D concrete, the mixtures are very sensitive due to
their physic-chemical structure. This means a change in the nature of cement or aggregate may require a new
adaptation of the concrete mix design or additive type. In addition, Materials must have some basic properties,
such as fast curing, for use as 3D printing material. And if the concrete is used as a printing material, it should be
able to be extruded to an acceptable degree so that it can be removed from the nozzle of the printer. In order to
form each layer, concrete layers must adhere, while casting concrete must have sufficient workability features
and must have buildability feature to carry the top layers and prevent collapsing (Labonnote et al. 2016; Wu et
al. 2016; De Schutter et al. 2018).

Interface zones which are formed between the layers will significantly affect the mechanical performance, bond
behavior, bearing and durability of the product of 3D printed structures/elements. Current structural and
durability design standards consider concrete as a homogeneous material. However, this is not acceptable for the
case of 3D printed concrete elements with anisotropic behavior, because of the layered structure and weaker
interface. The layered system structure that requires new design models, such as the shear load at the structural
design stage will need to be considered (De Schutter et al. 2018).

Concrete current standards need to be revised to be used in 3D printed concrete, having anisotropic behavior.
Lack of appropriate standards and performance testing protocols are obstacles to the development and enhancing
of digital production in the concrete industry. Moreover, this situation makes it difficult to compare the
applications and studies in the literature. RILEM is supporting digital concrete technology. In addition to several
groups of researchers, companies and universities are working on developing standards for AM technologies
(Camacho et al. 2018; De Schutter et al. 2018).

The construction industry is responsible for high environmental impacts worldwide. Innovative construction
processes need to emerge to reduce the high environmental impacts caused by the traditional construction
process, which is increased by the fact that communities are more concerned about sustainability. The process of
additive manufacturing, which reduces energy use, resource demands, and CO2 emissions, is a cost-effective
construction process (De Schutter et al. 2018).

The results of environmental assessment have confirmed that digital production for highly complex geometry
structures provides high environmental benefits compared to conventional construction. As seen in the figure
below, the environmental impact of digital production does not change with increasing complexity of the
structure. In the conventional construction process, as the complexity of geometry increases, more resources will
be needed and more waste construction material will emerge and the construction process will be extended. AM
is a construction method that works in harmony with the environment, which produces less waste and enables
recycling by reusing most of the wastes in the future for different works. It can only be thought that complex
geometries are not always advantageous in shape. However, as the complexity of the structural geometry to be
obtained by the optimization means increases, the material utilization can be significantly reduced by utilizing
the material used in maximum performance. For the construction of this structure, digital production seems to be
quite advantageous compared to conventional construction with limited environmental impact and cost. It is also
expected that additive production will provide significant benefits for the construction of structures in hard
environments where human access is difficult, impossible or dangerous. In this way, possible accidents can be
prevented in such applications (Labonnote et al. 2016; De Schutter et al. 2018).
Figure 5. Comparison of environmental impacts of conventional construction and digital production, depending
on building complexity (Agusti-Juan et al. 2017; De Schutter et al. 2018).

With the increased of use of complex geometry moulds, the difficulty of construction increases, the time and
labor force required for the design and production of the mould also increase, and as a result, the total
construction process is extended. The advantage of this technology is that it does not require molds, reduces the
need for labor, and enables the production of large-scale structures in a short time. In addition, it is expected that
the technology will significantly reduce the weight of the building and the cost of the construction materials used
by significantly reducing the amount of material used, thanks to the advantages of the construction process and
the high degree of optimization of the components. In particular, the construction of complex structures is
expected to decrease in cost compared to conventional methods. Moreover, the cost of the structures produced
by 3D printing is expected to become independent from the increase in the complexity of the structure. Also, this
situation was studied by Agusti-Juan et al (2017). On his study of Potential benefits of digital fabrication for
complex structures: Environmental assessment of a robotically fabricated concrete wall as seen in figure
(Labonnote et al. 2016; De Schutter et al. 2018; Camacho et al. 2018).

The 3D printing technology offers a great deal of mass customization alternatives to the construction industry,
which is always known to be an industry with limited mass customization. Contrary to the conventional methods
of limiting the imagination of architects, the construction sector can be opened to a wide variety of mass
customizations. The success of 3D printing in the construction industry depends on two factors; the uniqueness
of the customer's needs and the degree of customer's desires. For example, in the construction industry in Korea
for the last 30 years, mass customization in the house building sector is the core marketing strategy. Researchers
agree that construction applications using 3D printing technology will increase gradually in the near future
(Labonnote et al. 2016; Wu et al. 2016).

Furthermore, a complex geometry structure which is difficult and expensive to construct by conventional
methods using standard construction procedures can easily be produced by means of 3D printing technology. 3D
printing technology will accelerate the development of innovative construction that is not technologically and
economically available a few years ago. New structural forms need to be explored, which will increase the
potential of 3D printing technology in the construction sector and reveal its benefits (Labonnote et al. 2016;
Camacho et al. 2018). This brings many advantages such as reducing material consumption and environmental
impact, achieving aesthetic appearance and limitless designs. It should be kept in mind that the constructions
made with 3D technology must comply with the mechanical rules and must ensure the safety and reliability
levels expected by the current construction standards. The method will encourage more innovative designs, but
these designs will have to be more rational.

4. Conclusion and Recommendations

The 3D printing technique for cement materials is a promising method, which can revolutionize the obvious
benefits of low cost, high-efficiency, automatic construction, architectural design freedom, construction
requirements and the reduction of risks during construction in conventional building and construction processes.
This paper discuss 3D concrete technology by taking the 3D concrete printing system in terms of its general
opportunities and challenging which are summarized as follows;
3D printing technology needs to be developed in the directions of mechanical strength, reinforcement,
curing, and durability. There is a few research on the durability of 3D concrete printing. Curing
conditions should be investigated for 3D concrete printing, especially on in-situ applications.
3D concrete has some viable properties like flowability, extrudability and buildability. These properties
are different from conventional concrete. For this reason, the design of 3D concrete should be made
more carefully by taking into consideration these properties.
One of the basic challenges is to obtain printable cement materials compatible with 3D printers.
Currently available high-performance and very durable cement-based materials cannot be directly

rheological properties, setting time and hydration temperature should be suitable with open time 3D
concrete.
Still, there isn't any standard about 3D concrete printing technology around the world. Basic and unified
standards are needed to be established for effective and accurate evaluation for the mechanical behavior
of specimen, components and structures manufactured with cement material by means of 3D printing.
The initial cost of 3D concrete printing technology is high due to the high cost of 3D printer devices.
Considering the different cost elements (labor, machinery, material, design and planning costs), 3D
concrete printing presents many potential opportunities to increase the cost-effectiveness of
construction processes in comparison to conventional construction methods.
When the impact on environment is considered, design optimization in 3D technology increases shape
complexity, but also reduces using of material. As a result, it is expected that for structures with the
same functionality, 3D technology performs environmentally better over the entire service life in.

In order to solve these problems, ongoing research should focus on interdisciplinary works involving materials
science, manufacturing methods, robotics, architecture and design. If the problems of 3D concrete printing
technology are solved, 3D printing can reach its maximum potential in the construction field. The following
steps are recommended for the more development of 3D concrete printing in the future

Cooperation with academia should be increased for insights in new and improved 3D concrete printing
technologies and cooperation with conventional suppliers should be increased to support the
development of concrete 3D printing.
Reinforcements should be integrated into the 3D printed structure to build high-rise buildings in the
future.
Usage of recycled materials in 3D concrete processes should be increased to build environmentally
friendly structures.
The using 3D concrete printing should be increased in the field of architecture for its versatile nature for
complex designs.
In the future, the compatibility between 3D concrete printing and hybrid technologies for more efficient
construction should be increased.

References

- Potential benefits of digital fabrication

for complex structures: Environmental assessment of a robotically fabricated concrete wall. Journal of
Cleaner Production, 154: 330-340.Reference list entries should be alphabetized by the last names of the
first author of each work.
ASTM. Astm F2792-10 Standard Terminology for Additive Manufacturing Technologies. American Society for
Testing and Materials (ASTM), http://www.astm.org/DATABASE.CART/HISTORICAL/F2792-10.htm
Austin, W., & Khoshnevis, B. (1988, May). Intelligent simulation environments for system modeling. In
Institute of Industrial Engineering Conference.
Bos, F., Wolfs, R., Ahmed, Z., & Salet, T. (2016). Additive manufacturing of concrete in construction: potentials
and challenges of 3D concrete printing. Virtual and Physical Prototyping, 11(3): 209-225.
Camacho, D. D., Clayton, P., O'Brien, W. J., Seepersad, C., Juenger, M., Ferron, R., & Salamone, S. (2018).
Applications of additive manufacturing in the construction industry A forward-looking review.
Automation in construction, 89: 110-119.
Campbell, T., Williams, C., Ivanova, O., & Garrett, B. (2011). Could 3D printing change the world.
Technologies, Potential, and Implications of Additive Manufacturing, Atlantic Council, Washington, DC,
3.
Cesaretti, G., Dini, E., De Kestelier, X., Colla, V., & Pambaguian, L. (2014). Building components for an
outpost on the Lunar soil by means of a novel 3D printing technology. Acta Astronautica, 93: 430-450.
Chang, S. H. (2016). Exploring the evolution of additive manufacturing industry: a study of stakeholder
requirements and architectural analysis of Desktop three-dimensional printing Segment. Ph. D. Thesis.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
De Schutter, G., Lesage, K., Mechtcherine, V., Nerella, V. N., Habert, G., & Agusti-Juan, I. (2018). Vision of
3D printing with concrete technical, economic and environmental potentials. Cement and Concrete
Research.
Gebler, M., Uiterkamp, A. J. S., & Visser, C. (2014). A global sustainability perspective on 3D printing
technologies. Energy Policy, 74: 158-167.
Gibson, I., Kvan, T., & Wai Ming, L. (2002). Rapid prototyping for architectural models. Rapid prototyping
journal, 8(2): 91-95.
Hopkinson, N., Gao, Y., & McAfee, D. J. (2006). Design for environment analyses applied to rapid
manufacturing. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part D: Journal of Automobile
Engineering, 220(10): 1363-1372.
Justnes, H., & Martius- -
Beton, 23: 77-82.
Khoshnevis, B., & Bekey, G. (1998). Centralized sensing and control of multiple mobile robots. Computers &
industrial engineering, 35(3-4): 503-506.
Khoshnevis, B., & Zhang, J. (2012). Extraterrestrial construction using contour crafting. Solid Freeform
Fabrication Proceedings; University of Texas: Austin, TX, USA, 250-259.
-of-the-art,
challenges and opportunities. Automation in Construction, 72: 347-366.
Le, T. T., Austin, S. A., Lim, S., Buswell, R. A., Gibb, A. G., & Thorpe, T. (2012)(a). Mix design and fresh
properties for high-performance printing concrete. Materials and structures, 45(8): 1221-1232.
Le, T. T., Austin, S. A., Lim, S., Buswell, R. A., Law, R., Gibb, A. G., & Thorpe, T. (2012)(b). Hardened
properties of high-performance printing concrete. Cement and Concrete Research, 42(3): 558-566.
Lim, S., Le, T., Webster, J., Buswell, R., Austin, A., Gibb, A., & Thorpe, T. (2009). Fabricating construction
components using layered manufacturing technology. In Global Innovation in Construction Conf. (pp.
512-520).
Lim, S., Buswell, R. A., Le, T. T., Wackrow, R., Austin, S. A., Gibb, A. G., & Thorpe, T. (2011). Development
of a viable concrete printing process.
Lim, S., Buswell, R. A., Le, T. T., Austin, S. A., Gibb, A. G., & Thorpe, T. (2012). Developments in
construction-scale additive manufacturing processes. Automation in construction, 21: 262-268.
Nadarajah, N. (2018). Development of concrete 3D printing. Master thesis, Aalto Uinversity School of
Engineering, Building Technology, Finland.

. Beton Dergisi. -Ekim 2018, 62-70 (In Turkish with English

abstract)
Papachristoforou, M., Mitsopoulos, V., & Stefanidou, M. (2018). Evaluation of workability parameters in 3D
printing concrete. Procedia Structural Integrity, 10:155-162.
Pegna, J. (1997). Exploratory investigation of solid freeform construction. Auto. in construction, 5(5): 427-437.

In: 9. Ulusal Beton Kongresi, pp. 431-441. Antalya, Turkey.

Van Damme, H. (2018). Concrete material science: past, present, and future innovations. Cement and Concrete
Research. 112, 5-24
Wolfs, R. (2015). 3D printing of concrete structures.
Department of the Built Environment Master Architecture, Building and Planning Specialization
Structural Design, Netherlands.
Wu, P., Wang, J., & Wang, X. (2016). A critical review of the use of 3-D printing in the construction industry.
Automation in Construction, 68: 21-31.
Anonymous 2019(a), https://d-shape.com/bwg_gallery/radiolaria/ , Radiolaria designed by Andrea Morgante
and printed with D-shape. Date accessed is March, 2019.
Anonymous 2019(b), http://contourcrafting.com/building-construction/ , Schematic representation of Detached
Houses produced by CC, Date accessed is March, 2019.
Anonymous 2019(c), http://www.winsun3d.com/ , Multi-storey houses produced in China by Winsun, Date
accessed is March, 2019.
Anonymous 2019(d), https://cybe.eu/portfolio-item/rdrone_laboratory_3dprinting_on-
site_in_the_desert_of_dubai/
CyBe, Date accessed is March, 2019.
View publication stats

Anonymous 2019(e), https://www.apis-cor.com/en/about/news , 3D concrete printing house produced in Russia

by Apis Cor, Date accessed is March, 2019.
Anonymous 2019(f), http://www.totalkustom.com/3d-castle-completed.html , Castle in Minnesota, USA and
Hotel suite interior in the Philippines by Total Kustom, Date accessed is March, 2019.
Anonymous 2019(g), https://www.3dwasp.com/en/3d-printed-house-gaia/ , Gaia is a sample home by WASP,
Date accessed is March, 2019.
Anonymous 2019(h), http://www.xtreee.eu/post-in-aix-en-provence/ -En-Provence by XtreE, This
4m-high post supports the playground roof of a school in Aix-en-Provence, France, Date accessed is
March, 2019.
Anonymous 2019(i), http://www.officeofthefuture.ae/ , Office building in Dubai by Winsun, Date accessed is
March, 2019.
Anonymous 2019(j), http://news.tsinghua.edu.cn , The first 3D printed pedestrian bridge in China by Tsinghua
University, Date accessed is March, 2019.
Anonymous 2019(k), https://www.dezeen.com/2017/10/27/worlds-first-3d-printed-concrete-bridge-bicycles-
bam-infra-netherlands/, Bridge produced by 3D concrete for cyclists in 2017 by Eindhoven University of
Technology, Date accessed is March, 2019..
Anonymous 2019(l), https://www.thbb.org/media/299617/makale149.pdf Date
accessed is March, 2019.