Study on Mix Design for 3D-Printable Components using Geomaterials and with CSA Cement as Binding Material
This project proposes the idea of using locally available, natural geomaterials for 3D printing. Successful applications of geomaterials like soils into current 3D printing mix design can reduce the consumption of cement and produce a more sustainable mixture. The project will focus on the development of the mix design using sand, silt, or clay soils with calcium sulfoaluminate (CSA) cement as the major binding material. CSA cement is a fast-setting material which makes it an ideal binding material for 3D printing purposes. To make the proposed mixture 3D printable, different admixtures like superplasticizers, viscosity modifiers, retarders, or accelerators will be used. Properties of the mixture during its fresh state including viscosity, yield stress, and setting time will be examined to ensure proper flowability, extrudability, and buildability for 3D printing. A viscosity test is introduced in this project to find the correlation between the fresh properties of the printed mixture and its printability. Correlations between the viscosity, setting, and the flowability and extrudability will be analyzed to find the ideal viscosity range for initial printing. In addition, creep tests under varying load levels at different intervals will be applied to the mixture to understand the creep behavior. When the printable mix designs are developed, the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) will be measured as the major strength parameter, which works as a refence for their possible future applications. The volume stability of the printed composite materials will be studied as well. The research objectives can be achieved through four major tasks: (1) Task 1 is to conduct a comprehensive literature review on 3D printing using geomaterials; (2) Task 2 is to develop mix designs using geomaterials and CSA cement that are suitable for 3D printing. Observations on potential cracks will be made to help screen the different mixtures suitable for 3D printing; (3) Task 3 is to develop methods to quantitatively evaluate the printability of geomaterials for 3D printing purposes. These include the fresh properties such as viscosity, setting time, and yield stress of the mixtures and the printability such as flowability and extrudability. Admixtures will be added in this task to modify the viscosity of the mixture and the setting time. The yield stress and creep properties of the mixture will be measured to evaluate the buildability. Trials of printing will be performed in this task to verify the suitability of these mixture designs for 3D printing; (4) Task 4 is to validate the mechanical performance of the printable mixtures developed in previous tasks. 7- and 28-day strength of the mixes and their shrinking potentials will be evaluated.
- Record URL:
Language
- English
Project
- Status: Active
- Funding: $89,994.00
-
Contract Numbers:
69A3552348306
-
Sponsor Organizations:
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology
University Transportation Centers Program
Department of Transportation
Washington, DC United States 20590 -
Managing Organizations:
Southern Plains Transportation Center
University of Oklahoma
202 W Boyd St, Room 213A
Norman, OK United States 73019 -
Project Managers:
Dunn, Denise
-
Performing Organizations:
Texas A&M University, College Station
Zachry Department of Civil Engineering
3136 TAMU
College Station, TX United States 77843-3136 -
Principal Investigators:
Puppala, Anand
Huang, Jianxin
- Start Date: 20241001
- Expected Completion Date: 20250930
- Actual Completion Date: 0
- USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Binders; Cement; Mix design; Three dimensional printing
- Subject Areas: Highways; Materials; Pavements;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01945970
- Record Type: Research project
- Source Agency: Southern Plains Transportation Center
- Contract Numbers: 69A3552348306
- Files: UTC, RIP
- Created Date: Feb 13 2025 3:07PM