Inter-laboratory study on the influence of 3D concrete printing set-ups on the bond behaviour of various reinforcements

This study investigates the influence of different printing set-ups and materials on the bond strength of reinforcement manually placed between 3D printed concrete layers. An identical experimental campaign was performed at two institutes in Switzerland and Italy. Each institute used its own printing process, which consisted either of a set on-demand mix or a high yield stress material. Two types of reinforcement (reinforcing bar Ø8 mm and a high strength steel wire Ø1 mm) and three production configurations (casting and printing with the reinforcement parallel or perpendicular to the printing direction) were investigated. The results showed high bond strength with only a limited influence of the fabrication method for the reinforcing bars. An increased bond was observed for the set on-demand approach compared to the high yield strength material. The comparison with existing models showed that the reinforcing bar bond strength of printed concrete varies slightly from conventional concrete. The high strength wires exhibited poor bond. Based on the gathered experiences, insights into the standardisation of testing for 3D concrete printing are discussed.