Correlation Between Thixotropic Behavior and Buildability for 3D Concrete Printing

The purpose of this research was to evaluate thixotropic behavior of 3D printing concrete in terms of the resting time, and the relationship between the thixotropy and buildability was proposed. A close correlation between the hysteresis loop area and resting time was revealed. Further, a close correlation was revealed between the buildup ratio and resting time via thixotropic behavior analysis during simulated 3D concrete printing. The 3D printing experiments were performed using various resting times derived through thixotropic analyses, and a close correlation between the thixotropy and experimental results was confirmed. Thus, the applicability of thixotropic behavior in evaluating 3D concrete printing buildability was experimentally verified. Furthermore, it is judged that it can be used as one of the indicators to evaluate buildability.