Energy Performance of 3D-Printed Concrete Walls: A Numerical Study

Abstract

Three-dimensional-printed concrete (3DPC), which is also termed as digital fabrication of concrete, offers potential development towards a sustainable built environment. This novel technique clearly reveals its development towards construction application with various global achievements, including structures such as bridges, houses, office buildings, and emergency shelters. However, despite the enormous efforts of academia and industry in the recent past, the application of the 3DPC method is still challenging, as existing knowledge about its performance is limited. The construction industry and building sectors have a significant share of the total energy consumed globally, and building thermal efficiency has become one of the main driving forces within the industry. Hence, it is important to study the thermal energy performance of the structures developed using the innovative 3DPC technique. Thermal characterization of walls is fundamental for the assessment of the energy performance, and thermal insulation plays an important role in performance enhancements. Therefore, in this study, different wall configurations were examined, and the conclusions were drawn based on their relative energy performance. The thermal performance of 32 different 3DPC wall configurations with and without cavity insulation were traced using validated finite element models by measuring the thermal transmittance value (U-value). Our study found that the considered 3DPC cavity walls had a low energy performance, as the U-values did not satisfy the standard regulations. Thus, their performance was improved with cavity insulation. The simulation resulted in a minimum thermal transmittance value of 0.34 W/m2·K. Additionally, a suitable equation was proposed to find the U-values of 100 mm-thick cavity wall panels with different configurations. Furthermore, this study highlights the importance of analytical and experimental solutions as an outline for further research

Cement Composites with Carbon‐Based Nanomaterials for 3D Concrete Printing Applications – A Review

“…(b) Adapted with consent under the terms of the CC-BY 4.0 license. [4] Copyright 2021, The Authors. (c) Adapted with consent.…”

“…Copyright 2019, Elsevier. (b) Adapted with consent under the terms of the CC‐BY 4.0 license [4] . Copyright 2021, The Authors.…”

Finite Element Modelling to Predict the Fire Performance of Bio-Inspired 3D-Printed Concrete Wall Panels Exposed to Realistic Fire

“…Therefore, researchers previously investigated some 3D-printed concrete non-load-bearing wall panels with different cross-sectional configurations, such as triangular, lattice, and sinusoid, with a focus on investigating fire resistance and thermal behaviour under standard fire conditions and different real fire circumstances. (i.e., hydrocarbon fire, rapid fire, and prolonged fire) [16,17,30,50].…”

Improving the energy performance of a 3D-printed wall using recycled material

“…Several studies have analyzed the properties of 3D-printed walls from different points of view: fire resistance [4], mechanical resistance [5,6], and thermal performance [7][8][9]. For example, the numerical analysis in [7,8] analyzed how 3D-printed wall configuration affects the thermal transmittance U, and it was stated that thermal performance improvement can be achieved by filling the cavities of the walls. In [9], the mechanical and thermal performance of seven 30 cm-wide walls was investigated as a function of the concrete design.…”