Reinvent Reinforced Concrete with Robotics and 3D Printing (2024-06)¶

3D concrete has undergone significant development over the last few decades. Yet unreinforced printed elements generally do not comply with existing building standards or regulations and are therefore not used as load-bearing elements. There is still a gap between research and use, and despite several proposals, standard commercial solutions for the reinforcement of 3D-printed structural elements are still some way off. The proposed concept is inspired by the composites industry and echoing Pier Luigi Nervi’s last century Ferrocement, uses 3D Concrete Printing (3DCP) and a patented technology called FBP for Flow-Based Pultrusion for additive manufacturing. The reinforcement is provided by long, aligned fibers, and produces a transverse isotropic composite mortar. The first experiments demonstrate an increase in tensile strength and ductility, and an industrial prototype, in collaboration with XtreeE company, is currently under development to push away the Reinforced Concrete limits proposing a disruptive way to design and build with concrete.