TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessment of pore structure characteristics and tortuosity of 3D printed concrete using mercury intrusion porosimetry and X-ray tomography
AU - Van Stappen, Jeroen F.
AU - Cnudde, Veerle
AU - De Schutter, Geert
AU - Van Tittelboom, Kim
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support provided by SIM (Strategic Initiative Materials in Flanders) and VLAIO (Flanders agency for innovation & entrepreneurship) towards the 3D2BGreen project. The authors also acknowledge the companies, BESIX, ResourceFull and Witteveen + Bos for being the partners of the 3D2BGreen project. The authors thankfully acknowledge the research fellows and technicians at the Magnel-Vandepitte Laboratory for their help in this study. Authors also extend their sincere gratitude towards Ecocem Benelux B.V. and supplying the GGBS and Italcementi cement for providing the CSA cement used in the study.
Funding Information:
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support provided by SIM (Strategic Initiative Materials in Flanders) and VLAIO ( Flanders agency for innovation & entrepreneurship) towards the 3D2BGreen project. The authors also acknowledge the companies, BESIX, ResourceFull and Witteveen + Bos for being the partners of the 3D2BGreen project. The authors thankfully acknowledge the research fellows and technicians at the Magnel-Vandepitte Laboratory for their help in this study. Authors also extend their sincere gratitude towards Ecocem Benelux B.V. and supplying the GGBS and Italcementi cement for providing the CSA cement used in the study.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2023/7
Y1 - 2023/7
N2 - Extrusion-based concrete 3D printing is being increasingly used in the construction industry. This paper gives insights into the porosity and pore structure of 3D printed concrete elements using mercury intrusion porosimetry, and X-ray micro-computed tomography. The experiments were conducted with two different cement systems; among which a Portland cement-blast furnace slag blend and a calcium sulfoaluminate cement-limestone blended system. The study reveals that the interlayer region contains larger and interconnected pores with low tortuosity, which could lead to enhanced transport of ions. Using the MIP data, surface fractal dimension and tortuosity parameters were computed. It was observed that the calcium sulfo aluminate-limestone blended system has higher pore complexity and tortuosity than the Portland cement-blast furnace slag system. Compared to mercury intrusion porosimetry, the X-ray micro-computed tomography technique was able to characterize both open and closed pores present in the printed sample at the resolution of the scanning. A significantly higher open porosity and the presence of more elongated pores with a high aspect ratio were observed in the interlayer compared to the bulk region. The current study can be useful in understanding the transport of ions through different regions in printed elements to assess its durability performance.
AB - Extrusion-based concrete 3D printing is being increasingly used in the construction industry. This paper gives insights into the porosity and pore structure of 3D printed concrete elements using mercury intrusion porosimetry, and X-ray micro-computed tomography. The experiments were conducted with two different cement systems; among which a Portland cement-blast furnace slag blend and a calcium sulfoaluminate cement-limestone blended system. The study reveals that the interlayer region contains larger and interconnected pores with low tortuosity, which could lead to enhanced transport of ions. Using the MIP data, surface fractal dimension and tortuosity parameters were computed. It was observed that the calcium sulfo aluminate-limestone blended system has higher pore complexity and tortuosity than the Portland cement-blast furnace slag system. Compared to mercury intrusion porosimetry, the X-ray micro-computed tomography technique was able to characterize both open and closed pores present in the printed sample at the resolution of the scanning. A significantly higher open porosity and the presence of more elongated pores with a high aspect ratio were observed in the interlayer compared to the bulk region. The current study can be useful in understanding the transport of ions through different regions in printed elements to assess its durability performance.
KW - Concrete 3D printing
KW - Mercury intrusion porosimetry
KW - Porosity
KW - Surface fractal dimension
KW - Tortuosity
KW - X-ray micro-tomography
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85158903920&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2023.105104
DO - 10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2023.105104
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85158903920
SN - 0958-9465
VL - 140
SP - 1
EP - 11
JO - Cement and Concrete Composites
JF - Cement and Concrete Composites
M1 - 105104
ER -