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Life Cycle-Based Sustainability Assessment of Optimized 3D Printable Concrete Mixes Incorporating Scms and Recycled Aggregates (2025-10)

10.1016/j.rineng.2025.108002

Nair Sajitha,  Nagarajan Praveen, Thampi Santosh, Das Sudha, Rajesh P.
Journal Article - Results in Engineering, No. 108002

Abstract

Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) in 3D-printable concrete (3DPC) has a high embodied-carbon burden. While SCMs and recycled fine aggregates (RFA) hold promise, the mix optimisation to make it extrusion-friendly has scarcely been quantified under cradle-to-gate life-cycle assessment (LCA). This research establishes that gap and compares an optimised SCM–RFA 3DPC (fly ash, GGBS, silica fume; with polypropylene fibres) to an OPC reference point m ixes met printability and mechanical specifications; environment was modelled in openLCA 2.4.1 with CML-IA (Baseline/Non-Baseline), ReCiPe 2016 Midpoint (H), Cumulative Energy Demand (CED) and Crustal Scarcity Indicator. Optimisation reduced important burdens compared to reference: Global Warming Potential by 32.15% (3252.02 → 2206.37 kg CO₂-eq), Abiotic Depletion (fossil fuel) by 30.46%, Acidification by 17.94%, and CED by 30.49% (38,062.75 → 26,456.32 MJ). Trade-offs were found with some ecotoxicity indicators, due to proxy inventory selection for by-products and recycled sources, and are explained with corresponding sensitivity analyses. In total, including SCMs and RFA in extrusion-compatible 3DPC achieves considerable climate and energetic advantages at cradle-to-gate, with areas of toxicity categories identified to set research agendas on dataset refinement and future durability-inclusive LCAs.

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0 Citations

BibTeX 
@article{nair_naga_tham_das.2025.LCBSAoO3PCMISaRA,
  author            = "Sajitha R. Nair and Praveen Nagarajan and Santosh G. Thampi and Sudha Das and P. Rajesh",
  title             = "Life Cycle-Based Sustainability Assessment of Optimized 3D Printable Concrete Mixes Incorporating Scms and Recycled Aggregates",
  doi               = "10.1016/j.rineng.2025.108002",
  year              = "2025",
  journal           = "Results in Engineering",
  pages             = "108002",
}
Formatted Citation

S. R. Nair, P. Nagarajan, S. G. Thampi, S. Das and P. Rajesh, “Life Cycle-Based Sustainability Assessment of Optimized 3D Printable Concrete Mixes Incorporating Scms and Recycled Aggregates”, Results in Engineering, p. 108002, 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.rineng.2025.108002.

Nair, Sajitha R., Praveen Nagarajan, Santosh G. Thampi, Sudha Das, and P. Rajesh. “Life Cycle-Based Sustainability Assessment of Optimized 3D Printable Concrete Mixes Incorporating Scms and Recycled Aggregates”. Results in Engineering, 2025, 108002. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rineng.2025.108002.