Digital Concrete Production with Vertical Textile Reinforcement
Dittel, Gözdem
One major challenge preventing widespread introduction of digital concrete production is the integration of reinforcing materials. Textile grid structures offer a possible solution for this challenge. Textile reinforced concrete (TRC) has been researched for approximately 20 years and is currently being commercialized, initially in pre-cast elements for facades and bridges. TRC enables the construction of thin-walled, strong structures with a high freedom of design, properties well suited for the integration in digital concrete production. First trials for this integration have been performed and published. However, these studies only use short fibres mixed into the concrete matrix or textile reinforcement within the printing plane, which limits the transferred loads. This study shows the results of preliminary tests of vertical, out-of-plane textile reinforcements for digital concrete production. The textile reinforcement is fixed vertically and the concrete printing process is performed diagonally, “through” the textile. The results of four-point bending tests are presented.
 Hello everyone, it's very nice to be here. Last time we have been to Aachen altogether and we had the possibility to show you a couple of our textile reinforcements and textile production processes. That's why I'm happy you are familiar with the topic. I am just in detail, I am from the Institute for Textile Technology from Aachen, RWTH Aachen. That's why I will talk about the textile reinforcing structures first and about the advantages of these structures. And after that, I will show you our approach to integrate the textile reinforcement into the 3D concrete printing process. So why are we using these textile mesh structures? Because they are non-corrosive structures. So in comparison to the steel reinforcement, we have this corrosion problem no more. And that's why we can realize very thin-walled concrete structures. It depends on the application, of course, but up to 80, sometimes 85%, we can reduce concrete amount. Concrete amount means also cement amount, and it means CO2 emissions. That's why we can reduce all these amounts and CO2 emissions up to 80 or 85%. We have other advantages also. When we use less concrete, we also have more space on the same place. And that's why we can have more rental income, for example. We have higher strength. It depends on the textile material. When it's carbon fiber, we have 10 times more tensile strength, for example. We have longer service life, so we couldn't prove it because the material is a new one for the construction industry. Like, since 30 years, we are doing research on it. But we believe that we will be able to have a service life up to 100 years, with alkaline resistant glass fibers or carbon fibers. So on the other side, we have another revolutionary building material. This is 3D-printed concrete. And of course, we are interested in it to use our textile mesh structures in this 3D-concrete printing processes. Why are we doing this? Like, Igor, we did also some research on the state of the art or state of the research. The research regarding 3D-CP focuses on, in generally, the manufacturing or digitizing methods and the integration of, in generally, steel fibers or short fibers. And we have unknown material properties on composite levels. So there is no integration of two-dimensional or three-dimensional textile reinforcement on the industrial level, I mean. And no research on the material characterization on composite level. That's why we would like to close this gap. We also checked these couple of projects. When we look from the process side, so there is first printing and then reinforcing, or first reinforcing, then printing, or both together, Igor showed us also a couple of examples at Technical University, Dresden. So when we want to reinforce a wall structure, for example, we need in vertical direction our reinforcing material. Steel or textile reinforcement, it doesn't matter. Because reinforcing materials, they can absorb the bending tensile strength or bending loads. So when I print in the horizontal direction, I have always a problem. When I have in the vertical direction my reinforcement mesh or cage. And we checked a couple of projects, and the both of them, they were very interesting to us. But of course, we looked for disadvantages and checked how can we change these disadvantages. So from the Chinese company Huachang Tenda, the approach is very good because we need to embed the reinforcing structure fully in the concrete. But I am sure that you have seen also the video. From the pumping source till the printing part, till the nozzle, we have a long way. And these parts are not stable. So two workers are also walking with the robot during the production. So we would like to change this. And here we have a shadow effect on the other side. So when we print from one side of the reinforcing mesh, on the other side, we cannot totally embed the reinforcement with the concrete. So that's why we thought, OK, what can we do? How can we change this? And how can we make advantage from these points? So this is a demonstration of the printing process. On the other side of the reinforcement, we need a formwork to be able to close the reinforcement from the other side. And when we have a formwork, so 3D printing is actually not clever because we would like to eliminate the formwork. That's why we are trying now to work with navigable formwork, which is moving with the printing head, but on the other side of the reinforcement. It is just a demonstration. So we don't need exactly a robot on the other side. It could be a very small but stable device, which is moving together with the reinforcing head. And we are looking for sensory connections between them to be able to keep the wall thickness on the width. Yeah. And what we have done first, so we did some preliminary tests. Here we used a bi-axial warp knitted textile mesh made of alkaline resistant glass fibers. And we have coated it with epoxy resin. So we had a very rigid mesh in the end. And after that, I will check. After that, this is just the demonstration with acrylic glass so that you can be able to see that how we can close the mesh from the other side. So we have created some four point bending test specimen and then have tested it. You also see a bottle. It was fun. It was fun. But we went from the right city. Yeah. We didn't realize it at this time. So after that, I didn't have any chance to change the video, of course. Yeah. And we have used two different concrete types. One of them is a printable concrete mixture, Sika Groud, from the company Sika. It is also a new developed concrete mixture. And we received it from the company. And the other mixture is our reference concrete mixture, which is a fine grained concrete mixture, which we use all the time at the Institute to compare our textile structures with each other. And after that, we have tested this specimen. And here you can see the preliminary results. So this one is our casted reference TRC. Here we have an ultimate load, so approximately, so like at 23 megapascal. And after that, of course, we didn't want to change the process from casting to printing and also at the same time the material. That's why we have also casted the Sika Groud mixture to be able to compare both of them at the beginning. And it was very similar, actually, when we don't count this specimen. It was very similar to the reference TRC structure. And then we used this process, which I've presented to you, and used, again, Sika Groud, but printed it. And as you can see, the results are better than casted ones. So we are sometimes up to 30 megapascal. And so we continue with this research and use right now this mixture. And what we want to do and what we would like to do, together with you, is the adjustment of the flow properties of the concrete, because we are a textile technology institution. We don't have any idea when it's about concrete mixture and printing. And so we would like to investigate a tension between the concrete layers first, and also between the textile reinforcement and the concrete metrics. And we are also now conducting research on the sensor connection between the navigable formwork and the concrete printer. Yeah. So if you are interested to work with us, here you can see my contact details. I would be happy to answer your questions now.
 Hello everyone, it's very nice to be here.  Last time we have been to Aachen altogether  and we had the possibility to show you  a couple of our textile reinforcements  and textile production processes.  That's why I'm happy you are familiar with the topic.  I am just in detail, I am from the Institute for Textile  Technology from Aachen, RWTH Aachen.  That's why I will talk about the textile reinforcing structures  first and about the advantages of these structures.  And after that, I will show you our approach  to integrate the textile reinforcement into the 3D  concrete printing process.  So why are we using these textile mesh structures?  Because they are non-corrosive structures.  So in comparison to the steel reinforcement,  we have this corrosion problem no more.  And that's why we can realize very thin-walled concrete  structures.  It depends on the application, of course, but up to 80,  sometimes 85%, we can reduce concrete amount.  Concrete amount means also cement amount,  and it means CO2 emissions.  That's why we can reduce all these amounts and CO2 emissions  up to 80 or 85%.  We have other advantages also.  When we use less concrete, we also  have more space on the same place.  And that's why we can have more rental income, for example.  We have higher strength.  It depends on the textile material.  When it's carbon fiber, we have 10 times more tensile strength,  for example.  We have longer service life, so we couldn't prove it  because the material is a new one for the construction  industry.  Like, since 30 years, we are doing research on it.  But we believe that we will be able to have a service life  up to 100 years, with alkaline resistant glass fibers  or carbon fibers.  So on the other side, we have another revolutionary building  material.  This is 3D-printed concrete.  And of course, we are interested in it  to use our textile mesh structures in this 3D-concrete  printing processes.  Why are we doing this?  Like, Igor, we did also some research  on the state of the art or state of the research.  The research regarding 3D-CP focuses on, in generally,  the manufacturing or digitizing methods  and the integration of, in generally, steel fibers  or short fibers.  And we have unknown material properties on composite levels.  So there is no integration of two-dimensional or three-dimensional  textile reinforcement on the industrial level, I mean.  And no research on the material characterization  on composite level.  That's why we would like to close this gap.  We also checked these couple of projects.  When we look from the process side,  so there is first printing and then reinforcing,  or first reinforcing, then printing, or both together,  Igor showed us also a couple of examples  at Technical University, Dresden.  So when we want to reinforce a wall structure, for example,  we need in vertical direction our reinforcing material.  Steel or textile reinforcement, it doesn't matter.  Because reinforcing materials, they  can absorb the bending tensile strength or bending loads.  So when I print in the horizontal direction,  I have always a problem.  When I have in the vertical direction  my reinforcement mesh or cage.  And we checked a couple of projects, and the both of them,  they were very interesting to us.  But of course, we looked for disadvantages  and checked how can we change these disadvantages.  So from the Chinese company Huachang Tenda,  the approach is very good because we  need to embed the reinforcing structure fully in the concrete.  But I am sure that you have seen also the video.  From the pumping source till the printing part,  till the nozzle, we have a long way.  And these parts are not stable.  So two workers are also walking with the robot  during the production.  So we would like to change this.  And here we have a shadow effect on the other side.  So when we print from one side of the reinforcing mesh,  on the other side, we cannot totally embed the reinforcement  with the concrete.  So that's why we thought, OK, what can we do?  How can we change this?  And how can we make advantage from these points?  So this is a demonstration of the printing process.  On the other side of the reinforcement,  we need a formwork to be able to close the reinforcement  from the other side.  And when we have a formwork, so 3D printing  is actually not clever because we would like  to eliminate the formwork.  That's why we are trying now to work with navigable formwork,  which is moving with the printing head,  but on the other side of the reinforcement.  It is just a demonstration.  So we don't need exactly a robot on the other side.  It could be a very small but stable device, which  is moving together with the reinforcing head.  And we are looking for sensory connections between them  to be able to keep the wall thickness on the width.  Yeah.  And what we have done first, so we  did some preliminary tests.  Here we used a bi-axial warp knitted textile mesh  made of alkaline resistant glass fibers.  And we have coated it with epoxy resin.  So we had a very rigid mesh in the end.  And after that, I will check.  After that, this is just the demonstration  with acrylic glass so that you can  be able to see that how we can close the mesh  from the other side.  So we have created some four point bending test specimen  and then have tested it.  You also see a bottle.  It was fun.  It was fun.  But we went from the right city.  Yeah.  We didn't realize it at this time.  So after that, I didn't have any chance  to change the video, of course.  Yeah.  And we have used two different concrete types.  One of them is a printable concrete mixture, Sika Groud,  from the company Sika.  It is also a new developed concrete mixture.  And we received it from the company.  And the other mixture is our reference concrete mixture,  which is a fine grained concrete mixture,  which we use all the time at the Institute  to compare our textile structures with each other.  And after that, we have tested this specimen.  And here you can see the preliminary results.  So this one is our casted reference TRC.  Here we have an ultimate load, so approximately,  so like at 23 megapascal.  And after that, of course, we didn't  want to change the process from casting to printing  and also at the same time the material.  That's why we have also casted the Sika Groud mixture  to be able to compare both of them at the beginning.  And it was very similar, actually, when  we don't count this specimen.  It was very similar to the reference TRC structure.  And then we used this process, which I've presented to you,  and used, again, Sika Groud, but printed it.  And as you can see, the results are better than casted ones.  So we are sometimes up to 30 megapascal.  And so we continue with this research  and use right now this mixture.  And what we want to do and what we would like to do,  together with you, is the adjustment  of the flow properties of the concrete,  because we are a textile technology institution.  We don't have any idea when it's about concrete mixture  and printing.  And so we would like to investigate  a tension between the concrete layers first,  and also between the textile reinforcement  and the concrete metrics.  And we are also now conducting research  on the sensor connection between the navigable formwork  and the concrete printer.  Yeah.  So if you are interested to work with us,  here you can see my contact details.  I would be happy to answer your questions now.
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Hello everyone, it's very nice to be here. Last time we have been to Aachen altogether and we had the possibility to show you a couple of our textile reinforcements and textile production processes. That's why I'm happy you are familiar with the topic. I am just in detail, I am from the Institute for Textile Technology from Aachen, RWTH Aachen. That's why I will talk about the textile reinforcing structures first and about the advantages of these structures. And after that, I will show you our approach to integrate the textile reinforcement into the 3D concrete printing process. So why are we using these textile mesh structures? Because they are non-corrosive structures. So in comparison to the steel reinforcement, we have this corrosion problem no more. And that's why we can realize very thin-walled concrete structures. It depends on the application, of course, but up to 80, sometimes 85%, we can reduce concrete amount. Concrete amount means also cement amount, and it means CO2 emissions. That's why we can reduce all these amounts and CO2 emissions up to 80 or 85%. We have other advantages also. When we use less concrete, we also have more space on the same place. And that's why we can have more rental income, for example. We have higher strength. It depends on the textile material. When it's carbon fiber, we have 10 times more tensile strength, for example. We have longer service life, so we couldn't prove it because the material is a new one for the construction industry. Like, since 30 years, we are doing research on it. But we believe that we will be able to have a service life up to 100 years, with alkaline resistant glass fibers or carbon fibers. So on the other side, we have another revolutionary building material. This is 3D-printed concrete. And of course, we are interested in it to use our textile mesh structures in this 3D-concrete printing processes. Why are we doing this? Like, Igor, we did also some research on the state of the art or state of the research. The research regarding 3D-CP focuses on, in generally, the manufacturing or digitizing methods and the integration of, in generally, steel fibers or short fibers. And we have unknown material properties on composite levels. So there is no integration of two-dimensional or three-dimensional textile reinforcement on the industrial level, I mean. And no research on the material characterization on composite level. That's why we would like to close this gap. We also checked these couple of projects. When we look from the process side, so there is first printing and then reinforcing, or first reinforcing, then printing, or both together, Igor showed us also a couple of examples at Technical University, Dresden. So when we want to reinforce a wall structure, for example, we need in vertical direction our reinforcing material. Steel or textile reinforcement, it doesn't matter. Because reinforcing materials, they can absorb the bending tensile strength or bending loads. So when I print in the horizontal direction, I have always a problem. When I have in the vertical direction my reinforcement mesh or cage. And we checked a couple of projects, and the both of them, they were very interesting to us. But of course, we looked for disadvantages and checked how can we change these disadvantages. So from the Chinese company Huachang Tenda, the approach is very good because we need to embed the reinforcing structure fully in the concrete. But I am sure that you have seen also the video. From the pumping source till the printing part, till the nozzle, we have a long way. And these parts are not stable. So two workers are also walking with the robot during the production. So we would like to change this. And here we have a shadow effect on the other side. So when we print from one side of the reinforcing mesh, on the other side, we cannot totally embed the reinforcement with the concrete. So that's why we thought, OK, what can we do? How can we change this? And how can we make advantage from these points? So this is a demonstration of the printing process. On the other side of the reinforcement, we need a formwork to be able to close the reinforcement from the other side. And when we have a formwork, so 3D printing is actually not clever because we would like to eliminate the formwork. That's why we are trying now to work with navigable formwork, which is moving with the printing head, but on the other side of the reinforcement. It is just a demonstration. So we don't need exactly a robot on the other side. It could be a very small but stable device, which is moving together with the reinforcing head. And we are looking for sensory connections between them to be able to keep the wall thickness on the width. Yeah. And what we have done first, so we did some preliminary tests. Here we used a bi-axial warp knitted textile mesh made of alkaline resistant glass fibers. And we have coated it with epoxy resin. So we had a very rigid mesh in the end. And after that, I will check. After that, this is just the demonstration with acrylic glass so that you can be able to see that how we can close the mesh from the other side. So we have created some four point bending test specimen and then have tested it. You also see a bottle. It was fun. It was fun. But we went from the right city. Yeah. We didn't realize it at this time. So after that, I didn't have any chance to change the video, of course. Yeah. And we have used two different concrete types. One of them is a printable concrete mixture, Sika Groud, from the company Sika. It is also a new developed concrete mixture. And we received it from the company. And the other mixture is our reference concrete mixture, which is a fine grained concrete mixture, which we use all the time at the Institute to compare our textile structures with each other. And after that, we have tested this specimen. And here you can see the preliminary results. So this one is our casted reference TRC. Here we have an ultimate load, so approximately, so like at 23 megapascal. And after that, of course, we didn't want to change the process from casting to printing and also at the same time the material. That's why we have also casted the Sika Groud mixture to be able to compare both of them at the beginning. And it was very similar, actually, when we don't count this specimen. It was very similar to the reference TRC structure. And then we used this process, which I've presented to you, and used, again, Sika Groud, but printed it. And as you can see, the results are better than casted ones. So we are sometimes up to 30 megapascal. And so we continue with this research and use right now this mixture. And what we want to do and what we would like to do, together with you, is the adjustment of the flow properties of the concrete, because we are a textile technology institution. We don't have any idea when it's about concrete mixture and printing. And so we would like to investigate a tension between the concrete layers first, and also between the textile reinforcement and the concrete metrics. And we are also now conducting research on the sensor connection between the navigable formwork and the concrete printer. Yeah. So if you are interested to work with us, here you can see my contact details. I would be happy to answer your questions now.
time we have been to Aachen altogether and we had textile reinforcements and textile production the Institute for Textile Technology from Aachen, the textile reinforcement into the 3D concrete printing process. So why are we using these one for the construction industry. Like, since 30 material. This is 3D-printed concrete. And of short fibers. And we have unknown material integration of two-dimensional or in vertical direction our reinforcing material. matter. Because reinforcing materials, they can formwork, which is moving with the printing head, preliminary tests. Here we used a bi-axial warp Institute to compare our textile structures with results. So this one is our casted reference TRC. properties of the concrete, because we are a also between the textile reinforcement and the