Innovative Design and Experiment of a 3D Printed Topology Optimized Pedestrian Bridge (2025-06)¶

In recent years, technological advancements have led to the development of new construction methods in civil engineering. One of these is 3D concrete printing. While the benefits it offers have been extensively studied, particularly in areas like sustainability, there is a lack in understanding the behavior of 3D-printed structures under real-world conditions. This study investigates the behavior of a precast pedestrian bridge constructed using 3D-printed concrete. The design of the structure was inspired by masonry arc bridges, in this way no reinforcement or prestressing is necessary because the stresses are mainly compressive. The study was conducted using finite element software and experimental testing. During the design of the bridge, emphasis was placed on exploiting some of the advantages of the method, such as design for disassembly and material reduction, without compromising the structural integrity of the structure. To validate the developed simulation methodology for 3D-printed structures, experiments were conducted, and their results were compared with those of the analyses. For this purpose, a small-scale model of the examined bridge was created using an FDM 3D printer. Subsequently, experimental tests were conducted on this model under controlled parameters. The comparison of the results allows the suitability of finite element software to be confirmed for the comprehensive study of the structure.