Conception of a real world 3D printing method for reinforced concrete (AMoRC)

3D printed plain concrete components (without reinforcement) produced through extrusion-based 3D printing methods are rarely suitable for use in real structures because they fail brittle and have insufficient structural resistance. Therefore, new methods are needed that allow the integration of steel reinforcement into the concrete printing process and thus the additive production of the composite material reinforced concrete. The conceptual design of a practice-oriented 3D printing process for reinforced concrete, the so-called Additive Manufacturing of Reinforced Concrete (AMoRC), is therefore the subject of the present paper. In the AMoRC process, segmented steel reinforcing bars are joined to form a three-dimensional reinforcement mesh using an arc stud welding process and simultaneously overprinted with a concrete extrusion process. This article describes the development of the process and preliminary investigations on its feasibility.