Advanced Modelling for Additive Manufacturing in Construction (2023-12)¶

The utilisation of 3D concrete printing (3DCP) can offer cost-effective solutions for construction, resulting in reduced costs, increased productivity, enhanced sustainability and the ability to produce products with intricate design requirements. Parametric design and numerical simulation, when combined with 3DCP, can further optimise construction and enable the realisation of complex designs. While the development of materials and mix designs has been a primary focus, limited attention has been paid to the creation of predictive modelling and design optimisation specific to the 3D printing of concrete/mortar from the fresh to the hardening states. The benefits of additive manufacturing in construction are becoming increasingly recognised, with the building of highly complex structures obtained from generative design or structural optimisation processes. However, such processes must consider various constraints, such as overhang angle, printing direction, anisotropic properties of concrete and printing toolpath optimisation. The continuous improvement of non-deterministic/statistical or machine learning approaches could also lead to the development of a future robust 3DCP simulation tool when data is scarce or limited. This chapter provides an overview of the state-of-the-art of modelling and design optimisation tools for 3DCP.