Leveraging clay formwork 3D printing for reinforced concrete construction

Abstract

Robotic clay formwork three-dimensional printing combined with incremental concrete casting controls concrete’s hydrostatic pressure and enables the production of building-scale structures. Clay formwork is self-demolding and less carbon intensive than concrete and polymer, often used in formwork additive manufacturing. This research investigates the recycling and reuse of clay to re-print formworks and tailors a self-compacting concrete formula with 60% reduced cement content and 90% larger maximum aggregate size. The study then explores integrating steel fibers and longitudinal rebars into the fabrication process to provide shear and bending reinforcement. When comparing the load-bearing behaviour of the fabricated beams against those cast traditionally using wooden formworks, the fabricated beams demonstrated 20% lower load-bearing capacity, with peak load mid-span deflections staying in a similar range. While more investigation is required to address formwork deformations using mixed steel fibers and recycled clay, this research paves the way for more sustainable concrete construction practices.