An experimental study of thermal performance of 3D printed concrete slabs

This work presents the most important advances in 3D printing, specifically the thermal performance of 3D printed concrete slabs with potential use as walls elements. One of the principal factors restricting widespread adoption of 3D printed concrete is the lack of thermal insulation, which needs an immediate attention. It is with this backdrop that this paper conducts a preliminary investigation on the thermal performance of 3D printed slabs containing two different cavity patterns with and without insulation material. The 3D printed solid slab has shown slight reduction in inside surface temperature (1 degrees C) than casted slab owing to the cold joints between the printed layers. Compared to solid printed slab, 3D printed hollow slab with two and three identical cavities have shown 6 degrees C and 4 degrees C higher inside surface temperature respectively. However, with added insulation, the inside temperature of printed hollow slabs was found to be similar to the solid slab due to increased insulation capacity. The delayed heat transfer resulted in higher outside surface temperature for the 3D printed hollow insulated slabs.

Automated summary

This study conducted a preliminary investigation on the thermal performance of 3D printed concrete slabs and found that solid slabs had slightly lower inside surface temperature compared to casted slabs, while hollow slabs with cavities showed higher inside surface temperature. However, with added insulation, the inside temperature of hollow slabs became similar to solid slabs.