Title: Building additive manufacturing - a materials evaluation

Authors: P.M. Hackney; L. Foster; A. Viney; K. Kelly

Addresses: Department of Mechanical and Construction Engineering, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1-8ST, UK ' Platinum Electrical Engineering, E14 The Avenues, 11th Ave. North, Gateshead NE11-0NJ, UK ' Platinum Electrical Engineering, E14 The Avenues, 11th Ave. North, Gateshead NE11-0NJ, UK ' Department of Architecture and Built Environment, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1-8ST, UK

Abstract: The UK is currently in the grip of a housing crisis, a recent report from the House of Lords stated that the shortage of affordable housing in Britain could jeopardise our standards of living for future generations. This paper aims to attempts to influence the problem of housing shortage by evaluating the potential of implementing fast building additive manufacturing (BAM) as a construction process. To validate the feasibility of BAM as a building process a variety of compressive and slump tests were conducted to assess the capabilities of concrete paste as a layer-by-layer build material. A structure was fabricated to represent a fused filament fabrication (FFF)-based BAM process; the tests determined that nozzle design limitation, the flowability of concrete and resistance to slump are key material characteristics in constructing house structural elements. Furthermore, the use of recyclable natural and steel wool fibres did not contribute to mixtures compressive strength but did significantly increase its flexural strength.

Keywords: building additive manufacturing; BAM; lightweight construction; digital construction.

DOI: 10.1504/IJRAPIDM.2021.120007

International Journal of Rapid Manufacturing, 2021 Vol.10 No.1, pp.69 - 79

Accepted: 18 May 2021
Published online: 04 Jan 2022 *

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