Fiber-Reinforced Cementitious Composite Design with Controlled Distribution and Orientation of Fibers Using Three-Dimensional Printing Technology (2019-02)¶

Composites represent widely utilized materials with desirable properties developed for specific purposes. One of the most commonly used artificial composites in the field of civil engineering is fiber-reinforced cementitious composites (FRCCs), which consist of the randomly distributed short fibers inside cementitious matrix. There are various factors that affect the behavior of the FRCCs, such as the interfacial behavior between fiber and matrix as well as the behavior of the matrix and fiber itself. The distribution and orientation of fibers in the composite is one of the more important factors that affect the mechanical properties of FRCCs. However, those parameters can be changed during composite fabrication and controlling the spatial parameters of fibers in the produced material represents a significant challenge. In this chapter, the applicability of the 3D printing technique for controlling fiber distributions and orientations is evaluated. The methodology of making fiber structures are discussed. The fibers were fabricated by using the 3D printing technique and were placed inside a mold to produce cementitious composites. With the fabricated cementitious composite, three-point bending tests were conducted to evaluate the dependence of their mechanical properties on the fiber distributions. As a result, the feasibility of utilizing 3D printed fibers for the fabrication of composite materials with controlled reinforcement distributions and orientations can be established.