Numerical Simulation for 3d Printed Wall Structure During the Process of Printing Considering Uncertainty

Abstract

3D concrete printing technology is getting increasing recognition in the construction industry. The extrusion-based printing method represents the most popular and promising one among the 3D printing techniques for concrete. However, mostly time-consuming trial-anderror explorations, i.e. mainly experimental studies have been performed so far. By utilizing numerical simulation, a fundamental understanding of the relations between process -process parameters -product properties could be achieved. Also, they enable us to study the dependencies of properties of the printed product on process parameters and material behavior. The extrusion-based 3D concrete printing process can be reliably controlled and optimized by taking into account the uncertain nature of the process and material parameters. In this study, the Finite Element (FE) method combined with a pseudo-density approach, following the soft-killing approaches in topology optimization is applied. The numerical simulations allow to reliably estimate the strength-based failure mechanisms that might occur during the 3D concrete printing of a wall structure by varying one of the printing process parameter printing velocity.