3D printable high performance fiber reinforced cementitious composites for large-scale printing

3D printing cementitious composites require special rheological properties, which are affected significantly by the materials constituents. In this work, a novel mixture of 3D printable fiber reinforced cementitious composites (3DPFRCC) was developed. The rheological performance, setting-time, and mechanical properties were characterized, a printing test was carried out as well to test the buildability and pumpability. Results indicate that the new material possesses appropriate rheological and mechanical performances. Rheological properties are designed based on previous practical printing test. The static and dynamic yield stress are 3289 Pa and 314.7 Pa, respectively. The plasticity viscosity is 32.5 Pa·s. The initial setting time is 59.2 minutes. The flexural strength and compressive strength are 8.6 MPa and 71.2 MPa, respectively at 28 days. Then, a 78 × 60 × 90 cm (L × W × H) structure was printed successfully in 150 minutes, which demonstrates that this novel 3DPFRCC possesses excellent buildability and pumpability, which is capable of large-scale printing.