A Multi-Material Extrusion-Nozzle for Functionally-Graded Concrete Printing (2020-10)¶

3D printing (3DP) is one of the breakthrough innovations for architecture, engineering and the construction industry. However, most 3DP technologies are limited to the design and fabrication of physical parts with homogeneous material properties, assuring structural safety but with no efficient use of material resources. A different strategy must be used to produce building components with varying material constituent or distribution. A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis was carried out to simulate the behavior of two 3D printing print-heads designed to combine two different materials, one composed by a simple “Y” shape, and the other integrating a dynamic mixing rod. The dynamic one presents a good mixing behavior, allowing to produce building components with locally optimized performance. Future work will include experimental tests and the analysis of new materials to compare simulated and experimental material behaviors.