A Methodology to Assess Early Age Fracture Performance of 3D Printable Cementitious Mixes

Digital fabrication with cement-based materials requires that specific attention is paid to rheological and mechanical material properties in both the fresh and hardened states. For the layered extrusion process, the cement-based material needs to satisfy the “printability” requirement, which may involve fracture resistance at very early ages to multiaxial stress states. This paper presents a methodology to identify the mechanical response under direct tensile and shear stresses as a function of time to determine the printability of the mix, with reference not only to the quality of the finishing but also to the speed of the printing process.