A large shaking table that mimics earthquake events has allowed researchers at the University of Bristol to evaluate the structural integrity of 3D-printed concrete structures.
Concrete 3D-printing is gaining momentum worldwide. From constructing railway stations to 30-metre-tall buildings, it is seen as a rapid, resilient, affordable and sustainable building technique.
Structures are built layer-by-layer using a large-scale 3D-printer that extrudes a concrete mixture through a nozzle.
While traditional concrete design has well-established seismic behaviour, 3D-printed concrete introduces new variables such as layered deposition, unique material properties and non-traditional geometries.
The Bristol team wanted to assess how these factors influence the structural integrity of this construction method under earthquake loading.
Project leads Professor Anastasios Sextos and Dr Raffaele De Risi said: “This experiment aims to fill the knowledge gap surrounding the dynamic response of 3D-printed...