A review of 3D concrete printing systems and

materials properties: current status and future

research prospects
Suvash Chandra Paul
Singapore Centre for 3D Printing, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Gideon P.A.G. van Zijl
Department of Civil Engineering, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
Ming Jen Tan
Singapore Centre for 3D Printing, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and
Ian Gibson
School of Engineering, Deakin University, Australia

Abstract
Purpose – Three-dimensional printing of concrete (3DPC) has a potential for the rapid industrialization of the housing sector, with benefits of
reduced construction time due to no formwork requirement, ease of construction of complex geometries, potential high construction quality and
reduced waste. Required materials adaption for 3DPC is within reach, as concrete materials technology has reached the point where performance-
based specification is possible by specialists. This paper aims to present an overview of the current status of 3DPC for construction, including
existing printing methods and material properties required for robustness of 3DPC structures or structural elements.
Design/methodology/approach – This paper has presented an overview of three categories of 3DPC systems, namely, gantry, robotic and crane
systems. Material compositions as well as fresh and hardened properties of mixes currently used for 3DPC have been elaborated.
Findings – This paper presents an overview of the state of the art of 3DPC systems and materials. Research needs, including reinforcement in the
form of bars or fibres in the 3D printable cement-based materials, are also addressed.
Originality/value – The critical analysis of the 3D concrete printing system and materials described in this review paper is original.
Keywords Automation, Material properties, Rheology, 3D concrete printer, Thixotropy
Paper type Literature review

1. Introduction principle remains that of additive manufacturing (AM),

The success of rapid industrialization in various parts of the
world may be explained by the automation processes which led
to a faster and cheaper way of production. However, the
concrete construction sector has not been automated in the
same manner and to the same extent as other industrial sectors.
In the past two decades, the traditional way of mixing and
casting concrete on site has to a significant degree been
replaced by pre-cast or pre-fabrication construction in several
developed and newly industrialized countries. However, the
construction sector can benefit significantly from further
automation towards reducing labour and construction time,
improved quality and reduced environmental impact. Three-
dimensional printing (3DP) was first introduced in 1987 as a
means of rapid prototyping (Hull, 1986; Chua and Leong,
2014). Today, there are various 3DP techniques, but the basic
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meaning that it adds material layer by layer, in contrast to the
most traditional manufacturing methods that subtract material.
In recent years, the AM technique has been used to build
artificial organs, for instance, for knee/hip/other joint
replacements, limbs (arms, legs, feet, hands, etc.) and enabled
higher levels of customization in toys, jewellery and
consumable products (Gardiner, 2011). It is postulated that
AM and 3D printing will be at the centre of a shift in design and
fabrication due to their unique capabilities for fabricating
geometrically complex and highly customized products using a
variety of materials. This dramatic change in the way objects
are designed and fabricated presents significant opportunities
for the building and construction (B&C) industry (Gardiner,
2011).
Typically, AM processes use computer-aided design (CAD)
models as blue prints to fabricate complex 3D designs in a
layer-by-layer manner. Early applications of 3DP were for
modelling and prototype purposes, but due to developments in

Received 22 September 2016

Rapid Prototyping Journal
Revised 22 January 2017
24/4 (2018) 784–798 14 May 2017
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 1355-2546] 1 July 2017
[DOI 10.1108/RPJ-09-2016-0154] Accepted 3 July 2017

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material science, it has since been used in many industrial
applications such as the automobile, aerospace, military and
medical sectors (Bak, 2003; Gibson et al., 2015). More
recently, development of 3D printable construction material
has evolved this technology to B&C applications. A number of
3D-printed construction projects have been executed to
demonstrate the successful application of this form of
automated construction (Khoshnevis, 2004; Khoshnevis et al.,
2006). However, 3DP application in B&C is in its infancy, and
to significantly grow its application, challenges of the scale of
the objects for B&C applications; strict control through
standards and governing bodies; and the level of conservatism
in B&C industries world-wide are to be addressed.
Initial efforts to realize automated construction were made
by Japanese companies in 1980s, which were mostly towards
two categories of work (Taylor et al., 2003). In the first
category, single task robots replaced simple labour activities on
construction sites. Robots are used for concrete floor finishing,
spray painting, tile inspection and materials handling. The
second category consists of fully automated systems that can
construct high-rise steel buildings or steel reinforced concrete
(RC) buildings using prefabricated components as shown in
Figure 1. An example of this approach is Big-Canopy, which
was the world’s first automated construction system for
building a precisely defined concrete structure. It has four
independent masts supporting an overhead crane that delivers
components at the control of a joystick. All tasks are scheduled
and controlled by a centralized information control system
(Khoshnevis et al., 2006; Wakisaka et al., 2000).
Concrete is used worldwide as one of the major construction
materials, both in situ and prefabricated. This is due to several
benefits it has as a construction material, including low
production cost, mouldability into various shapes, high thermal
resistance and relatively high durability. Typically, RC
construction can be divided into three components: concrete,
formwork and reinforcement. Formwork may account for
35-54 per cent of the total construction cost and consume
50-75 per cent of the total construction time (Jha, 2012). An
example of estimated cost distribution in a typical construction
is shown in Figure 2 (Jha, 2012). However, as a new
construction method, the data on time and cost for
construction by 3D printing of concrete (3DPC) are limited.
The construction industry produces a significant amount of
construction and demolition waste (C&D waste). According to
Figure 1 RC buildings using prefabricated components
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Figure 2 Estimated cost distribution in a typical concrete construction
Lawson et al. (2001), the construction industry in the UK
produces 53.5 Mt of C&D waste annually, of which 51 per cent
goes to landfill, 40 per cent for land reclamation and 9 per cent
is crushed for re-use. It is anticipated that adoption of 3DPC
technology would be able to significantly reduce construction
waste, as the amount of concrete mixed and placed is carefully
controlled in such automated system. As such, 3DPC
structures could potentially significantly save on construction
cost, improve productivity and could, above all, significantly
limit the environmental impact by using less material and
producing less waste.
WinSun built their first 3DPC structures shown in Figure 3
(WinSun, 2018). Over a period of about a decade, they made
significant efforts to address matters of shape retention, open
time, pumpability and extrudability of concrete material (Le
et al., 2012a). These matters remain important research and
development areas for 3DPC, considering that various classes
of concrete materials are used in the B&C industry, and that
strict material quality control is required, which may be
challenging especially in on-site construction as opposed to
prefabrication in controlled environments in factories.
This paper presents an overview of the state of the art of
3DPC systems and materials. Research needs, including
reinforcement in the form of bars or fibres in the 3D printable
concrete materials, are also addressed.
2. Current 3D printing of concrete systems
The main advantage of a 3DPC layered approach is that it can
manufacture complex, non-standard geometries and details
rapidly (Chua and Leong, 2014; Gardiner, 2011; Gibson et al.,
2015). The 3DPC processes have developed in three major
categories named by their inventors as contour crafting (CC),
D-shape and concrete printing. Descriptions of these processes
can be found in Khoshnevis (2004), Le et al. (2012a) and Dini
(2015). Typically, these printing processes follow two
approaches, namely, pumping and extrusion, and methods
based on selective binding. In both approaches, an STL
(standard triangulation language) file is collected from a 3D
CAD model and then divided into multiple 2D layers in a so
called “slicing” process. Cartesian coordinates from the 2D
layers along with printing parameters such as speed of the
printing head, extrusion rate and binder deposition rate are then
delivered to a 3D printer in machine-readable language. The
desired structure is then built layer by layer using the defined
 Review of 3D concrete printing systems
Suvash Chandra Paul et al.
Figure 3 3D concrete printed house by WinSun(2018)
coordinates and the given printing rates (Wolfs, 2015; Nerella et
al., 2016). This section describes 3D concrete printers, nozzles,
pumps and control systems. To achieve better 3D-printed
objects, there must be a good combination of these elements in
the system.
2.1 3D concrete printers
At present, three categories of 3D concrete printers, namely,
gantry (WinSun, 2018; Le et al., 2012a; Dini, 2015; Wolfs,
2015; Nerella et al., 2016; TU Eindhoven, 2018; BetAbram,
2018), robotic (Concrete Plans, 2018) and crane (Apis Cor,
2018) systems shown in Figure 4, are successfully used in
universities and industry. Note that the gantry is also one type
of crane, but its height is typically fixed as shown in Figure 4(a).
However, the crane system shown in Figure 4(c) is adjustable in
the vertical direction. The advantage of using gantry and crane
printers is that they are easily scalable in size. On the other
hand, robots typically have a fixed dimension and are difficult
Figure 4 Current 3D concrete printers
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to scale up. However, the speed and degrees of freedom of a six-
axis robot allow it to perform many tasks that may not be
possible with a four-axis gantry printer. Moreover, if the design
of printed objects does not require any complexity, a gantry
printer may be preferred over a robotic printer, as the cost of
robot is higher and the pay load on a robotic arm is generally
lower than on a gantry. The size of gantry printers currently in
use varies from small laboratory versions up to 40 � 10 � 6.6 m
(length � width � height) to print large-scale building
components (WinSun, 2018). Figure 4(a) shows a four-axis
gantry system adopted by the Technical University of
Eindhoven in The Netherlands, with an adjustable printing
envelope of about 11 � 6 � 4 m (TU Eindhoven, 2018). With
this technique (gantry printer), it is reported (WinSun, 2018)
that WinSun has built multiple houses, a five-story apartment
block and an 1100 m2 mansion. The printing method is similar
to CC, i.e. an inner and outer bead is printed in layered fashion,
as well as a cellular inner structure [Figure 4(c)]. In some cases,
 Review of 3D concrete printing systems
Suvash Chandra Paul et al.
reinforcement is placed manually between layers during
printing. The concrete material mixture WinSun used contains
glass fibre, steel, cement, hardening agents and recycled
construction waste materials (WinSun, 2018). Note that the
multiple houses built by WinSun were not fully 3D printed.
The structural elements were printed in segments in the factory
and transported to the site, where they were assembled.
Suitable concrete materials for 3DPC are discussed in more
detail in Section 3.
Another company that has adopted the CC technique is
CyBe additive industries, founded in The Netherlands. They
print a mortar that reaches a bearable strength within 5 min.
CyBe has experimented by attaching a print head to an
imprecise six-axis robot-arm [Figure 4(b)], allowing for high
diversity in printer speed and strategy (Concrete Plans, 2018).
The additional rotational axis of a robot over gantry printers
gives the designer more freedom to design complex shape. This
robotic printer has a 6-m diameter reach, which enables
printing of relatively large elements within a short period. A
Russian company Apis Cor (2018) has developed a crane type
printer [Figure 4(c)] that enables a large printing plan area of
up to 58 m2, with virtually no height limitation.
The printer head speed plays an important role in the
dimension of filament layers in 3DCP. For a fixed nozzle orifice
and material flow, too slow movement of the printer head may
deposit more materials in a region and increase the bead
dimension, i.e. the bead dimension may be higher than the
nozzle orifice. Similarly, too fast movement may cause an
insufficient amount of material deposition and reduce the bead
dimension. The selected printing speed is a function of the size
and geometrical complexity of the element to be printed, linked
to the pump speed and quality of the extruded concrete
material. It also has to consider the so-called open time, i.e.
how long the fresh concrete material can be formed before it
sets, as well as the interlayer placement time gap which
influences interfacial bond. Nerella et al. (2016) used a printing
speed of about 75 mm/s for materials with 90 min open time.
By injecting accelerating chemical additive into the nozzle, they
significantly reduced the initial setting time of the concrete to 3
min, considering that usual concrete setting time may be
several hours. In their case, the time gap between two layers was
Figure 5 Conceptual design of a 3DP extruder with (a) single orifice (Kwon, 2002), and (b) multiple orifices (Contour crafting, 2018)
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30 s. In a study by Perrot et al. (2016), the time gap between the
printing layers was in a range of 11 to 60 s, which allowed them
to print a 3D column at a rate ranging from 1.1 to 6 m/h. The
influence of the interlayer time gap on interlayer mechanical
properties is described in more detail in Section 3.3. Extrusion
rates of analogous processes in concrete construction range
between 15 and 125 mm/s for typical hollow core slab
extrusions and road pavement curb extrusion. It appears that
quality of surface textures may limit printing speed to about
200 mm/s, based on extrusion of 15 � 70 mm plates (Visser,
2007). However, this may vary for different concrete materials
used for 3DPC.
2.2 Nozzles for concrete extrusion
The end part of the printer head is the nozzle that forms the
desired shape and size of the concrete layer (Bos et al., 2016).
To achieve the desired shape and good buildability on bedding
layers, it is necessary to have an appropriate nozzle for 3DPC.
The orientation of the nozzle should remain tangent to the tool
path (Bos et al., 2016) to prevent twisting and displacement of
the fresh layer. Displacement of layers may create eccentricity,
which may lead to instability and collapse. Various nozzle
shapes have been used as orifice of the extruder, such as
circular, ellipse, square and rectangular shapes. For better
surface finishing, side trowels can also be used in the nozzle
orifice as shown in Figure 5(a). In general, a circular nozzle
gives freedom of printing without having to adjust the printing
angle for shape continuity at vertices or changes in angle of the
printed element. However, the smaller contact surface between
layers or beads may influence buildability or stability of layers in
quick printing construction. A study by Kwon (Kwon, 2002)
concluded that the surface finish created with a square orifice is
better compared to an ellipse orifice. Also, the ease of
manufacture is reported to be greater with a square orifice than
an elliptic one (Anell, 2015). The size of the orifice also
depends on the size and shape of the objects. A range in size of
9 � 6 mm to 38 � 15 mm of rectangular orifices is currently
being used for 3DPC (Nerella et al., 2016; Le et al., 2012b), but
this should not be considered to be limiting. In case of circular
nozzles, diameters of 4-22 mm are in use (Lim et al., 2011).
The existing nozzles are designed in such a way that their orifice
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Suvash Chandra Paul et al. Volume 24 · Number 4 · 2018 · 784–798

size and printing head speed deliver printing volumes in the Figure 6 No slump 3D printable concrete
range 0.04-0.09 L/s (Nerella et al., 2016; Malaeb et al., 2015).
However, printing volume rates of analogous extrusion
processes of concrete are up to 11 L/s (hollow core slabs), and a
speed of roughly 2 L/s is considered to be a realistic upper target
rate for 3DPC. Depending on the shape of printed objects,
multiple nozzle orifices can also be used for printing as shown
in Figure 5(b) (Contour crafting, 2018). This may also give
solutions to printing various materials, for example foamed
concrete as insulation between concrete outer layers.

2.3 Pumping and control system

Pumping of concrete materials is an essential part of the 3DPC
system, given the importance of its fast delivery without
segregation of particles. The pump transports the materials
from the mixing unit to the nozzle, where it is subsequently
extruded. The pump has to be able to transport the specified
concrete mix, which may be a challenge due to large particle
size aggregate and a range in water to cement (w/c) ratio. High
viscosity gaining in fresh concrete is typically required for shape
retention once printed, which demands relatively high pumping
pressures in the range 1 to 4 MPa (10 to 40 Bar). Concrete
material mix adjustments are required to avoid segregation
under these pumping pressures, and formation of a thin
smearing layer for good pumpability (Secrieru et al., 2016).
Segregation during high-pressure pumping may lead to loss of
the smearing layer and cause blockage of material in the pipe.
For better printing, it is desirable to have a balance between the
feeder system, nozzle and material properties. Depending on
the size and shape of the printed objects, pumping speed may
need to be adjusted. At angle changes in the printing path, the
deposition of materials should be controlled to avoid higher
deposition of material. The printer head (nozzle) can typically
change direction reasonably quickly; nevertheless, geometrical
perfection will require that the pump speed is reduced at
especially sharp curves or discontinuities. Therefore, it is
necessary to have a proper control system which will allow
adjusting the printer speed, nozzle rotation and pumping of
materials from one control unit. Alternatively, lower viscosity
concrete can be used for improved pumpability, and chemical
additives are added in the nozzle to accelerate setting once
printed, as done by, for instance, Nerella et al. (2016).
3. 3D printable materials
Because the printing process requires a continuous, high degree
of control of the material during printing, high performance
building materials are preferred (Lim et al., 2011). Also, as no
supporting formwork is used for 3DPC, traditional concrete
cannot be directly used. For ensuring little or no deformation in
the bedding layers, either low to zero slump concrete is required
as shown in Figure 6. Or low viscosity concrete can be used for
ease of pumping, requiring intervention by adding a chemical
accelerator at the nozzle for quick setting once printed.
Production of low slump concrete needs special care of
granulometric properties of the fines. In this respect, the
particle shape has a large impact on both compaction behaviour
and green strength (Hüsken and Brouwers, 2012). Thixotropic
behaviour is desired, whereby material of high static viscosity
can undergo microstructural changes to become less viscous by
de-flocculation when agitated or otherwise stressed, but
rebuilds or re-flocculates to become highly viscous once it has
been extruded and comes to rest (Mitsoulis, 2007; Barnes,
1997; Roussel, 2006; Khayat and Assaad, 2006; Khayat and
Assaad, 2008). A typical response of thixotropic material
subjected to rheological testing is shown in Figure 7. It can be
seen that when material is at rest, it needs higher torque (static
torque) to flow, but over time, the torque required for a
particular angular speed in a rheological test is reduced, known
as dynamic torque. In this regard, lessons may be learnt from
experience with self-consolidating concretes (Khayat and
Assaad, 2006; Khayat and Assaad, 2008). For which mix
adjustments in terms of the aggregate grading, water to binder
(w/b) ratio and chemical additives are successfully used to
adjust the flocculation process, or microstructural thinning (de-
flocculation) and rebuilding (re-flocculation).
3.1 Material composition
The material compositions for 3DPC by several authors are
summarized in Table I. Most authors used several trial mixes
before choosing the best mix composition. A significant
amount of fine particles were used in all mixes and no reports of
the use of coarse aggregates for 3DPC was found in the
literature. Typically, in most cases the maximum sand particle
size was limited to less than 2 mm (WinSun, 2018; Nerella
et al., 2016; Perrot et al., 2016; Visser, 2007; Anell, 2015; Le
et al., 2012b; Malaeb et al., 2015). However, coarse aggregate
with particle size up to 10 mm have been used in 3DPC
(Rushing et al., 2017). To control the open time and setting
period of the materials, superplasticizer (SP), accelerator and
retarder were also used in the mixes. Based on the current
research reports, water to binder ratios in the range 0.23-0.41
and binder/sand ratios in the range 0.63-0.73 were used, which
Figure 7 Thixotropic behaviour of 3D printable concrete

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Table I Materials compositions of 3D printable concrete
Authors Cement Fly-ash
Nerella et al. (2016) 430 170
Le et al. (2012b) 579 165
Anell (2015) 659 87
Perrot et al. (2016)
Cement 50%, limestone filler 25%, kaolin 25%, w/c = 0.41,SP/cement = 0.3%
Malaeb et al. (2015) Cement 125 g, sand 80 g, filler 160 g, water:cement = 0.39, SP = 0.5-1 mL
Notes: SP: superplasticizer; PP: polypropylene (12/0.18 mm length/diameter)
produced best printability and mechanical properties of the
printed material once hardened.
3.2 Rheological properties of 3D printable materials
The fresh properties of shear stress, viscosity, open time and
green strength of concrete material are very important, as they
relate to pumpability, extrudability, buildability and interlayer
adhesion. Open time of concrete relates to the change of
flowability with time, which allows the material to be printed
without detrimental effects on the quality of printing or
hardened properties. Usually, a Vicat apparatus is used to
measure the concrete open time, by typically establishing the
initial setting time and (final) setting time. Open time is
typically defined as the time between completion of mixing and
initial setting time. On the other hand, shear stress and viscosity
have direct influence on the pumpability and extrudability,
usually measured with a rheometer. Shear stress of fresh
concrete can also be measured indirectly from the slump flow
test (Pierre et al., 2013; Roussel and Coussot, 2005). The green
strength of 3DPC is related to its fracture on the surface when
load is applied on top of the bed layer. In 3DPC, after printing
the layer, the material must achieve sufficient strength to
carry the load of subsequent layers. To measure the green
strength the plate deposition method as shown in Figure 8 can
be followed. In this case, a plate with a known weight can be
placed on top of cylindrical sample at a certain time gap until
failure can be seen on the surface (Perrot et al., 2016). The
deformation of the bed layer can also be recorded in this test
method.
Figure 8 Test set up for green strength measurement of 3D printable
concrete
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Materials compositions (kg/m3)
Silica fume Sand Water SP Fibre
180 1240 180 10 –
83 1241 232 16.5 1.2 (PP)
83 1140 228 11.6 1.2 (PP)
Binder content expressed as a weight:
3.2.1 Pumpability of concrete
Pumpability refers to the material’s mobility and stability under
pressure while maintaining its initial properties (Jolin et al.,
2009). At the pump, a relatively soft material that will be easy to
pump is required; at the nozzle, a stiff material is wanted so it
does not sag or lose shape. Concrete is a heterogeneous
material and has particles of various sizes, shapes and densities.
Therefore, to ensure good pumpability, carefully designed and
optimized mixture design is required (Mechtcherine et al.,
2014). Two methods of improving pumpability are including
sufficient paste content so that there is enough grout to form a
thin smearing boundary layer on particles, and suitable grout
consistency and structure between aggregate grains to hinder
forced or pressurized bleeding during high pressure pumping
(Spiratos et al., 2003). It is necessary to obtain suitable
consistency, combined with resistance against squeezing out of
water from the concrete due to the high pressure in the pipe, so-
called pressurized bleeding (Wallevik, 2002). It has been
proposed to measure the pumpability of concrete with a sliding
pipe rheometer as described in Mechtcherine et al. (2014).
3.2.2 Extrudability of concrete
In typical concrete extrusion, for instance, for manufacturing of
pre-cast hollow-core slab elements or pavement curbs, a highly
viscous, plastic-like mixture is forced through a die/nozzle,
which is a rigid opening with a desired cross section. In this
production process, the materials are formed under high shear
and high compressive forces (Visser, 2007; Shao and Shah,
1997; Akkaya et al., 2000). In 3DPC, this is changed by the
requirement of pumping the fresh material over appropriate
distances depending on the printer (gantry, robot or crane) size
and working volume (length, width and height). As described
in the previous section, a thixotropic concrete material is
desired to be pumpable. Through this agitation-reduced
viscosity caused by the pumping pressure, the fresh concrete
reaching the nozzle is less viscous than in traditional extrusion.
Shape retention requires that the extrudate be sufficiently stiff
to retain its geometrical form, by fast rebuilding through re-
flocculation. At the nozzle, increased pressure may arise due to
the nozzle size being smaller than the pipe cross-section. Here,
segregation must also be avoided (Le et al., 2012a). To achieve
the appropriate thixotropic and tribological (pumpability)
characteristics, material ingredients and proportions should be
chosen carefully and be properly controlled. Because of poor
matrix composition, segregation may lead to material blocking
in the pipe or at the nozzle.
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3.2.3 Buildability of concrete and equation (5) gives the deformability from the slump flow
Buildability, which combines properties of printed layers being test of concrete (Roussel and Coussot, 2005). Equation (6)
self-supportive and shape retention, refers to the ability of the describes the variation of viscosity with time (Petit et al., 2007).
bedding layers to hold the subsequent layers on top of them Yield stress development with time can be expressed as
without collapsing or deforming. Layer imperfection and follows:
settlement (Kazemian et al., 2017) may lead to instability once
trest
successive layers are added. In traditional concrete t 0 ðtÞ ¼ Athix tc ðe =tc
1Þ 1 t 0;0 (1)
construction, this is not an issue as the concrete is placed and
supported in formwork. As 3DPC is formwork-free, there is a Critical failure time, i.e. the minimum time between printing of
need for it to be self-supporting. layers to allow the bedding layer to develop enough strength, is
Apart from adjusting the concrete material properties, given by:
buildability of printed structures can be achieved in several
t 0;0
ways. One simple way to improve the structural buildability is tf ¼ (2)
by changing the nozzle type. For instance, in case of a circular r gR=ageom Athix
nozzle orifice, the contact area between the two beads is less
� �
compared to a rectangular or square orifice as shown in D
Figure 9(a). ageom ¼ 2 1 1 pffiffiffiffiffi (3)
2 3h
Another way to improve buildability is by increasing the
number of adjacent filament layers as shown in Figure 9(b). where t 0,0 is the yield stress of first deposited material, Athix is
Note that the term filament in 3DPC refers to a printed layer of the constant rate of increase of yield stress over the time, tc is the
concrete which looks like a slender thread-like object. This characteristic time (a value which is adjusted to obtained the
method may not be suitable for thin 3DPC objects. For the best fit curve of experimental values), trest is the time at rest, i.e.
same material composition and nozzle orifice, Le et al. (2012a) trest = 0, r is the specific weight of concrete, g is the gravitational
found significant improvement in the buildability by increasing
acceleration, R is a constant that depends on the rate of
the number of adjacent filament layers from one to six as shown
construction and ranges from 1.1 to 6.2 m/h), ageom is a
in Figure. 9(b). Similarly, a supporting filament as shown in
geometrical factor which depends on the form of building
Figure 9(c) creating a cellular-type structure can also be used to
structure, D is the diameter of the structure, and h is the height
improve the buildability. Note that these adjacent filament
of vertical structure on the first deposited layer (Perrot et al.,
layers can be printed using both single and multiple nozzle
2016).
heads. For printing two adjacent layers using a single nozzle
The yield stress (t c) of concrete can be estimated from slump
head, the printing loop has to be closed, i.e. start and end of
flow test results as follows:
printing should be the same point. However, for multiple
nozzle head, these two layers can be printed simultaneously, i.e.
r gðh0 1 hðR0 ÞÞ
the printing loop can be open, and in this case, the start and end tc ¼ pffiffiffi (4)
points should not be the same. 3
From the above discussion, it is postulated that the rheology
of printable concrete is crucial, as several factors are related to where h0, h and R0 are obtained from the slump flow test as
it. It is useful to model printable material to predict its shown in Figure 10.
behaviour accurately for 3DPC. In this regard, Perrot et al. For testing deformability, a small slump cone of diameter
(2016) developed a time-dependent yield stress (t 0 (t)) model d0 = 100 mm is used. In the slump tests, no external vibration is
and failure time (tf) model of layer by layer 3DPC as shown in applied to consolidate the fresh concrete. The maximum
equations (1) to (3). Equation (4) is the yield stress calculation, diameter of the spread d1 and the diameter perpendicular to it

Figure 9 Influential parameters on 3DPC buildability

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Suvash Chandra Paul et al.
Figure 10 Schematic representation of the suspension at flow
stoppage under intermediate regime between spread and slump
d2 are then measured. The deformability (C) is then calculated
as follows (Kim et al., 2003):
d1 d2 d0 2
C¼ (5)
d0 2
Typically, a quick reduction in deformability is required after
printing for shape retention. Alternatively, a more direct
measure is the plastic viscosity of the fresh concrete. The
variation of plastic viscosity with time can be expressed as
follows:
� �
t age of 28 days, which could explain lower strength
m m ðtÞ ¼ m m ð0; T Þ 1 D m eq : (6)
tf
where m m(0,T) is the initial plastic viscosity at the test
temperature, D m eq is the slope of the linear regression and tf is
the final elapsed time (Petit et al., 2007).
It is also worth mentioning that the rheological behaviour of
printable concrete is closely influenced by concreting
temperature and the elapsed time. Therefore, the variation of
the plastic viscosity and the yield stress with elapsed time and
temperature must be accurately quantified to forecast the
variation of workability of cement-based materials (Petit et al.,
2007), and to design matching printing speeds for appropriate
3DPC.
3.3. Mechanical properties of 3D printable materials
To date, limited information is available on mechanical
properties of 3DPC. However, research results of extruded
concrete material indicate reduced porosity, leading to
increased strength and stiffness (Peled and Shah, 2003). This
section discusses reported mechanical properties of 3DPC.
3.3.1 Compressive and flexural strength of 3D printing of concrete
Although the w/c ratio is dominant in determination of
concrete paste strength, it is well-documented that air
entrainment reduces strength significantly. Strength is also
influenced by curing, test direction relative to interlayer joints
and, in cases of fibre reinforcement, the fibre orientation. These
factors are considered in the interpretation of compressive and
flexural test results reported by various researchers on 3DPC
specimens and control specimens prepared by standard casting
and curing, as summarized in Table II.
By high-pressure extrusion, air content is reduced and
strength increased as shown in Figure 11. The flexural
responses of cast and extruded beams manufactured from steel
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fibre RC (SFRC) are shown in Figure 11 (De Koker, 2004).
The SFRC reported here contained 2 per cent (by volume) of
13-mm long, straight steel fibres of diameter 0.16 mm. De
Koker (2004) also showed by X-ray computer tomography
imaging that extrusion aligns fibres dominantly parallel to the
extrusion direction, compared with random 3D orientation in
cast specimens. Together with reduced air entrainment, the
fibre alignment significantly increases the flexural resistance
of the extruded specimens compared with specimens
manufactured from the same SFRC, but by traditional casting
and vibration.
Nerella et al. (2016) found increased compressive and
flexural strength in 3DPC specimens compared with cast
specimens. They extracted specimens by sawing and coring
from 3DPC elements in the different orientations shown in
Figure 12(a) and (b). However, Le et al. (2012b) found lower
compressive strengths for specimens collected from the 3DPC
specimens than the cast specimens, as shown in Table II.
Various mechanisms could have led to these contradicting
results, including reduced air content, segregation by printing
of non-optimized material and curing conditions. Reduced air
content could have led to the strengthening in the specimens of
Nerella et al. (2016). Le et al. (2012b) moist cured printed
specimens under damp hessian, while the cast specimens were
cured at 20°C after stripping at the age of 1 day, until the test
development in printed specimens. However, flaws in the
specimens due to segregation could also have caused lower
strength of printed specimens.
The direction of loading of the printed specimen has
influence on the strength properties, as shown in Table II and
Figures 13(a) and (b) (Feng et al., 2015). By testing parallel to
the layer deposition [see testing direction I in Figure 12(a)],
Feng et al. (2015) found higher compressive strength than
when testing perpendicular to the layer depositions, as shown in
Figure 12(a) and Figure 13. This phenomenon is difficult to
explain. It is noteworthy that they heat cured their specimens
and tested at the young age of 3 h. The failure mechanism of
printed cubes under compression test was also investigated by
the Feng et al. (2015). Specimen loaded in X, Y and Z
directions as shown in Figure 13 had almost similar failure
patterns. In all cases, the specimens exhibited diagonal failure
with two sets of triangular cracks intersecting near the centre to
form an hourglass shape on the two opposite sides (Feng et al.,
2015).
The influence of the position of the joints is clearer in the
results of Nerella et al. (2016) and Feng et al. (2015). In both
groups’ results, compressive and flexural strengths were
consistently the lowest in testing direction III [Figure 12(b)],
which is when loaded parallel to joints. In this orientation,
compressive and flexural splitting may occur along weak joints
in 3DPC specimens under compressive and flexural loading,
respectively.
The value of Young’s modulus (E-mod) is also given in
Table II for the specimens tested by Feng et al. As in the case
of compressive strength, different E-mod was also found for
different directions of loading relative to the printing
direction.
The printing time and quality may be contributing factors
that may also have significant influence on the results. An
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Suvash Chandra Paul et al. Volume 24 · Number 4 · 2018 · 784–798

Table II Comparison of mechanical properties of cast and printed objects

Testing time
Printed specimens Cast specimens
Specimens Testing
Authors retrieved from Type of test direction 3 days 21 days 28 days 21 days 28 days
Nerella et al. 1000 � 300 � Compressive strength (MPa) I 45.9 83.5 – 73.4 –
(2016) 35-mm wall (size: 35-mm cube) II 49.7 80.6
Flexural strength (MPa) (size: I 4.8 5.8 5.1
160 � 35 � 35 mm) III 4.3 5.9
Le et al. 350 � 350 � Compressive strength (MPa) I – – 96 – 107
(2012b) 120-mm slab (size: 100-mm cube) II 93
III 93
500 � 350 � I – – 102
120-mm slab II 102
III 91
Curvy bench Compressive strength (MPa) I – – 74
(size: 63-mm cube) II 82
III 76
500 � 350 � Flexural strength (MPa) (size: I – – 16.5 – 11
120-mm slab 400 � 100 � 100 mm) II 13
III 6.5
Curvy bench Flexural strength (MPa) (size: I – – 12
220 � 63 � 50 mm) II 13
Feng et al. 70.7-mm cube Compressive strength (MPa) Testing time 3 h after casting
(2015) I 11.2 (3.6)* – –
II 7.23 (1.9)*
50-mm cube Compressive strength (MPa) I 16.8 (7.1)*
II 13.2 (4.9)*
III 11.6 (5.8)*
Note: *The values in the brackets are E-modulus and unit in GPa

Figure 11 Flexural behaviour of cast and extruded SHCC
example is illustrated in Figure 14 with a 3DPC wall made
from a single batch of concrete, and with a size of 500 � 300
mm and 50 mm thickness. At the beginning, the printing
quality is considered to be good, but with time, the
hydration process accelerates and matrix becomes harder
(changing initial to final setting time). Also, some moisture
may be lost from the mix, leading to reduced printing
quality. As a result, concrete layers and interfaces of poorer
quality might have been created in the upper layers. For the
same reason, mechanical properties of the specimens
obtained from Samples 1, 2 and 3 as indicated in Figure 14
will also be different, and because of this, there may be
variation in the results, which could explain the scatter
reported by Le et al. (2012b).
From the above discussion, it is postulated that in 3DPC, the
printing direction and printing time have significant effect on
the overall load bearing capacity of the printed objects. This
implies the significance of considering the anisotropic
properties of 3D printed objects, as well as proper printing
speed when designing the structures.
3.3.2 Interlayer bond strength of 3D printing of concrete
The interface between concrete layers with different ages must
assure sufficiently high shear and tensile strength as a main
requirement to resist actions on the structure. However, the
shear and tensile stress transfer mechanisms between two
concrete layers is complex. They involve the combination of
different interactions and depend on several parameters that
influence the transmission process, such as the amount of
reinforcement (if any) crossing the interface, the compressive
resistance of concrete, the roughness of the interface, the
presence of cracking or the stress caused by normal forces
across the interface (Kang et al., 2015).
The interlayer bond strength of 3DPC was investigated by
Le et al. (2012b) with a varying time gap between printing
subsequent layers, and the results are shown in Figure 15. To
determine the bond strength, direct tensile testing was
performed on the cylindrical specimens cored from 3DPC

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Suvash Chandra Paul et al.
Figure 12 Collection of 3DPC specimens for (a) compressive and (b) flexural testing
Figure 13 Early age (3 h heat cured) compressive response of 3DPC specimens loaded
Figure 14 Collection of specimens for mechanical tests from different
orientations in a printed wall
elements. The curing process of the specimens was the same as
their compressive and flexural specimens discussed in Section
3.3.1. The printing time gap between the layers was varied from
0 min (virtually no time gap) to 7 days, i.e. cold joints, and the
results were compared with the cast specimens without
interfacial joints. It is clear from Figure 15 that the printing
time gap has a significant influence on the bond strength.
However, the main mechanisms of the bond strength were
neither studied nor discussed by the authors. It is not yet
clear whether chemical or mechanical interfacial bonding
mechanisms dominated the bond strength variation with the
interlayer printing time gap in their results. For shorter
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interlayer gaps, hydration or chemical reaction of binders in the
fresh concrete layers may lead to formation of a crystalline
structure which strengthens the bond between the two layers.
With increased interlayer time, it is postulated that the chemical
bond is reduced as the lower layer sets, hardens and cures. In
addition, differential inter-layer drying shrinkage may occur
and significantly influence the eventual interlayer bond
strength. Therefore, for better bond strength of layer concrete,
the printing time should be shorter.
3.3.3 Drying shrinkage of 3D printing of concrete
In current 3DPC, fine aggregates of maximum particle size up
to 2 mm are used (Nerella et al., 2016; Le et al., 2012b). The
finer particles have higher water demand due to larger surface
to mass ratio, so this may lead to higher drying shrinkage. Also,
in the mixes of Table I, the aggregate content is significantly
lower, at about 50 per cent of the concrete volume, while the
combination of fine and coarse aggregate in normal concrete
may amount to about 70 per cent of the volume. The higher
paste content may also lead to larger drying shrinkage in these
concretes. Le et al. (2012b) investigated the drying shrinkage of
similar 3DPC specimens in different exposure conditions for 6
months, namely, in water, moist under hessian that was kept
wet for the first 70 days where after they were allowed to dry,
and in a controlled climate of 60 per cent relative humidity and
temperature of about 20°C. The average shrinkage of five
 Review of 3D concrete printing systems
Suvash Chandra Paul et al.
Figure 15 Influence of tensile bond strength with printing time gap
specimens subjected to each curing regime after 6 months was
0.177, (immersed in water), 0.58 (moist) and 0.855 mm/m (60
per cent RH, 20°C). This is an acceptable shrinkage level.
Nevertheless, in different materials, shrinkage will also be
different. Note that in this particular mix, roughly 0.1 per cent
by volume polypropylene fibre was included. Such an amount
is typically included to control plastic shrinkage cracking.
Nevertheless, it is clear from Le et al. (2012b) that the drying
shrinkage is dominated by the exposure conditions. The
influence of the manufacturing method, i.e. 3DPC or standard
casting, on shrinkage has not yet been reported in the literature.
4. Reinforcement in 3D printing of concrete
For better structural performance and structural reliability,
concrete structures generally need addition of reinforcement.
Previous studies on extrusion of SHCC with steel bars are
illustrated in Figure 16 (Van Zijl et al., 2016). For reinforced
SHCC (R/SHCC), two steel bars were extruded with the
SHCC as shown in Figure 16. In this case, steel bars were
entered horizontally through specially provided openings at the
back of the extruder. Once entered, the steel bars were drawn
Figure 16 Extrusion of steel bar reinforcement in SHCC
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automatically by the extrudate, which was forced by a vertical
piston extruder around the 90° bend.
However, it is a challenging task to install reinforcement in
the automated layer-by-layer 3DPC process. The placement of
vertical reinforcement as well as the connection between the
reinforcement is not simple with the current printing
technology. Therefore, to strengthen the 3DPC structure,
alternative ways of reinforcement, such as composite fibre
mixed into concrete, carbon fibre or fibre reinforced polymer
(FRP), might be introduced, but these require thorough
investigation and innovative adjustments to 3DPC technology.
Preliminary study has shown that the structural capacity and
ductility can be significantly improved for 3DPC columns and
beams when strengthened with FRP (Kim et al., 2003). Much
benefit in structural performance would be gained when a
hybrid printing system is developed that can print concrete
along with such reinforcement in different arrangements.
Manual placement of such reinforcement is possible and has
been done as shown in Figure 17 (Shanghai-based WinSun 3D
Prints 6-Story Apartment Building and an Incredible Home,
2018; WASP, 2018; Architect Plans, 2018; Exquisite 400 m2
villa 3D printed on-site in Beijing in just 45 days, 2018) on
intermediate layers [Figure 17(a)], or between the filament
layers [Figures 17(b) and (c)], or directly by extrusion of
concrete through the side of the manually pre-tied
reinforcement cage [Figure 17(d)]. However, elimination of
such intervention would fully automate the printing process,
with benefits of geometrical accuracy, reduced manufacturing
time, reduced labour cost and waste.
Apart from the approaches discussed here, the researchers in
Singapore Centre for 3D Printing (SC3DP) are currently
working on two other ways of installing reinforcement in 3DCP
as illustrated in Figure 18. In the first method, researchers are
designing a new nozzle system where steel wire can be extruded
with the material as shown in Figure 18(a). In this method, the
Figure 17 Application of reinforcement in 3D concrete printed objects
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Suvash Chandra Paul et al.
Figure 18 Prototyping of the usages of reinforcement in 3DPC
flexibility of the wire reinforcement must suit the process,
especially when the nozzle needs to turn at a geometrical curve
or to climb from one layer to the next. In the second method, a
hybrid printing system entails automated injection of steel
fibres into an existing 3DPC layer by a robot before the next
layer is deposited, as illustrated in Figure 18(b). These
approaches are at a preliminary stage and much research is
required before adopting them successfully in 3DCP.
5. Construction industry automation through 3D
printing of concrete
3DPC is an emerging high-tech development in construction
technology (Bos et al., 2016; Kwon, 2002; Tay et al., 2016; Lim
et al., 2012; Tay et al., 2017). The major advantages of this
technique are potential high speed construction, formwork-free,
minimal labour and, importantly, increased freedom to design
complex geometries and shapes. This technique allows for mass
customization, as it does not require every (structural) element of
a building to be identical for matters of speed or cost. Besides, as
the printer only prints where it is desired, with the 3D printing
philosophy of additive construction as opposed to subtractive
construction, materials waste can be eliminated or reduced
significantly. Also, 3DP creates new shapes in an efficient manner
which may solve some difficulties in the traditional construction
especially for the complex type of structures. It is too early to say
whether 3DPC can fully replace current cast-in situ and pre-
fabricated concrete construction methods. At this moment, it is
necessary to find the complexity in the current construction
methods and justify whether the 3DP can be used to remove that
complexity. Concrete printing can improve the current
fabrication methodology by automation, which reduces the
reliance on labour and can increase precision. However,
considering the challenges, there is a need for intelligent system
design as well as advanced material development that can lead to
environment friendly and affordable construction. Finally, it is
also important to have standard test methods for this type of layer
by layer construction, due to particular construction process
potentially causing anisotropy, i.e. properties are different in
different directions. A standard data set of different
benchmarking properties of 3DPC as discussed in Section 3
would be required for this new research area.
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Automation already exists in the construction industry in terms
of prefabrication. 3DPC presents an alternative to such
prefabrication but may extend automated prefabrication from
factories to the construction site. In some construction areas,
especially in underground construction, removing formwork can
be troublesome and costly. While innovative solutions are
developed for automated reinforcement in 3DPC, a potential
short-term application lies in 3DPC permanent formwork.
3DPC may present an efficient automated production process
for typical thin-walled formwork, for instance for columns, into
which reinforcement cages are placed and interior concrete is
subsequently cast in situ to form a composite structural element.
Finally, each of the 3DPC techniques described in Section 2
uses different materials and fabrication processes and thus each
has different potential. Currently, there are no integrated systems
such as hardware and software available for 3DCP which can be
bought from the market and used directly for printing. Different
types of software are being used to create 3D modelling of
objects, slicing them for layer–by-layer printing and then
generating G-code for the printer to read and perform the job.
Although there are computer numeric control (CNC) tools
available in the market which are widely used in the automation
industry, they are mainly for subtracting metal as opposed to
depositing of materials as in 3DCP. Therefore, there is a need for
integrated systems of hardware and software for 3DCP.
6. Standard for 3D printing of concrete
Due to required changes to concrete materials and reinforcement
in 3DPC, existing design and execution standards in B&C are
not applicable, which fact may be a significant deterrent.
Standards are typically developed over several years, once
sufficient, reliable data and sound understanding have been
developed. Currently, ASTM committee F42 and ISO/TC 261
members are working on developing a standard for AM.
However, there is no committee and standard for 3DPC, nor
standardized tests. The authors believe there is a need for a
testing guideline to develop a pool of standardized test results for
comparison and modelling of mechanical properties of 3DPC
structural elements. Guidelines should include the printed object
size for testing, minimum number of layers/interfaces for
objectively characterizing mechanical properties, procedures for
compressive, flexural, tensile and bond strength tests. Guidelines
for steel bar reinforcement in 3DPC, including bond between the
reinforcement and the cement-based composite, are also
essential for reliable design and construction. In its simplest form,
a separate chapter in existing standards might be required,
analogous to the treatment of precast structural concrete in
Eurocode 2 (BS EN 1992-1-1:2004, 2018).
7. Concluding remarks
This paper presents the state of the art of 3DPC, motivated by
its potential to revolutionize B&C industries. Through gantry,
robotic and crane systems, the technology has been applied
successfully in demonstration construction projects. Options
for improved shape retention and buildability on sub-layers
include the development of thixotropic concrete materials, or
alternatively the use of low viscosity concrete that can be easily
pumped, and then treated chemically at the nozzle for
accelerated setting. However, the pool of data on suitable
 Review of 3D concrete printing systems
Suvash Chandra Paul et al.
materials, structural performance, safety and economy is
limited. The following research needs are identified:
� To enable appropriate engineering design and
construction, it is imperative that mechanical
properties of 3DPC elements are characterized by
standardized material tests. Tests for compressive and
indirect tensile strength of 3DPC elements, based on
existing test methods for concrete, have been
performed by individual laboratories, as described in
this contribution. Interlayer bond is integral to
structural integrity and must be tested for appropriate
design calculations.
� Reinforcement is required to overcome quasi-brittle
failure of concrete materials. Manual placement of steel
reinforcement bars or assemblies of bars as inter-layer or
inter-filament reinforcement as reported in this paper,
presents a solution. Placement of reinforcement may be
automated as part of the 3DPC process, or through other
automated devices. In both manual and automated
processes, the bond of reinforcement with the concrete
remains to be studied carefully to provide design
guidelines for appropriate anchorage and curtailment of
reinforcement in 3DP concrete structures and structural
elements.
� For acceptance of 3DPC as a construction technology by
B&C authorities, standards for materials, specification,
manufacturing, testing and structural design are required.
These standards and their appropriate application in
design and construction must ensure that appropriate
levels of reliability are achieved.
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Corresponding author
Suvash Chandra Paul can be contacted at: suvash.
chandra@monash.edu