Affordable inline structuration measurements of printable mortar with a pocket shear vane

TL;DR

This paper introduces an affordable inline measurement method using a pocket shear vane to assess the structuration of printable mortar, crucial for optimizing 3D printing processes.

Contribution

It presents a novel, simple inline testing protocol with a pocket shear vane for real-time mortar structuration measurement during 3D printing.

Findings

Effective inline measurement of mortar structuration

High-quality results with simple protocol

Potential for industrial application

Abstract

The control of mortar rheology is of paramount importance in the design of systems and structures in 3D printing concrete by extrusion. This is particularly sensitive for two-component (2K) processes that use an accelerator to switch the printed mortar very quickly from a liquid behavior to a sufficiently solid behavior to be able to be printed. It is necessary to set up simple and effective tests within a precise methodological framework to qualify materials evolving so quickly in an industrial context. It is obvious that inline solutions, that is to say, post-printing solutions, will be more desirable than benchtop-type solutions reproducing the printing conditions as well as possible, but imperfectly. After some main key points about measuring the structuration of mortars, we propose an original inline test using a pocket shear vane tester. The protocols are precisely described and the simplicity and quality of the results are demonstrated.