Porous Diatomite Promotes Lightweight and Low-Carbon Concrete 3D Printing (2025-02)¶

Compared to traditional concrete formwork casting, cement-based 3D printing offers significant advantages in environmental friendliness, economy, and production efficiency. Lightweight concrete (LWC) 3D printing materials have broad prospects in the field of additive manufacturing. However, the currently developed LWC 3D printing materials generally have high costs and complex preparation process. This study explores the application of diatomite (DE) in lightweight and low-carbon concrete 3D printing. The fresh properties, print properties, and hardened properties of concrete 3D printing materials with different DE dosages are tested, and the economic and environmental benefits are compared and analyzed. The results indicate that when the dosage of DE is 5%, the setting time of printing mortar is the smallest, and the compressive strength, elastic modulus and tensile strength of printed samples are the best after hardening. When the dosage of DE is 30%, the deformation rate of the printed sample is the smallest, and the printability is the best. With the increase of DE content, the density, chloride permeability resistance and thermal conductivity increased obviously. The SEM analysis shows that DE has porous structure and high specific surface area, which can significantly improve the porosity of mortar. Compared with other LWC 3D printing materials in terms of production cost and carbon emission, it is indicate that DE has better economic and environmental benefits for preparing LWC 3D printing materials. The above research shows that DE has excellent modification effect and economic benefits in the preparation of LWC 3D printing materials, which has broad application prospects in the field of additive construction.