3D Printing by Selective Binding in a Particle-Bed (2019-04)¶

Within the area of additive manufacturing of cement-based materials for the construction of elements or structures, two different techniques are used: processes based on the extrusion of fresh concrete, and the deposition of ink into layered aggregates or a powder/aggregates mixture. The ink is made up of water and additives, cement materials and/or organic materials, depending on the chosen process. These processes are commonly referred to as 3D selective binding methods for printing. According to Claude Barlier and Alain Bernard [BAR 16], the binding of fine layers of powder using an injection of ink was patented in 1993 by Sachs [SAC 93]. Among the seven families of additive manufacturing listed in the standard ISO 17296-2, the family consisting of the projection of a binder onto a substrate, developed at MIT, is often used outside the field of civil engineering for the creation of bone implants, models for molding and various objects for art and decoration. The first part, made from concrete by selective bonding, dates back to 1995 and uses a technique in which the cement is activated by water vapor [PEG 95, PEG 97].