Optimization of Fiber-Reinforced 3D Concrete Printed Structures
In this project, we will perform both experimental and numerical experiments on the behavior of fiber-reinforced 3DCP structures which can be used to 1. Improve our understanding of the behavior of the constructed 3DCP structures 2. Improve our predictive ability to model these structures.
This project will be hosted chair of Applied Mechanics with major collaborations with the 3DCP group. The student will also get full support from our industrial partners, ZAVHY.
Interested students are encouraged to contact Dr. Payam Poorsolhjouy in chair of Applied Mechanics. You can send an email or visit his office at Vertigo, Room 9.24.
One of the best ways to enhance the behavior of 3D Concrete Printed (3DCP) structures is by reinforcing them with short fibers. With our expertise in 3DCP, one of the start-up companies which was a spin-off from the 3DCP group here at TU/e (ZAVHY) has developed an automated equipment called Fiber Reinforcement Entrainment Device (FRED) for manufacturing Fiber-reinforced 3DCP structures. In order to take full advantage of this new construction technique, we need to develop an in-depth understanding of the effect of dispersion and the directional distribution of fibers on the mechanical behavior of fiber-reinforced 3DCP structures.
Figure 1 – FRED from Zavhy: Used for constructing Fiber-reinforced 3DCP structures
To enable the design of fiber-reinforced 3DCP structures, we have also developed a numerical model which derives the material behavior by studying the interaction between aggregates and fibers in all different directions. The method is mostly developed and Figure 2 shows the preliminary results of our developed model. An excellent match between the experimental results (points) and model results (solid curves) can be seen in Figure 2.
Figure 2 – Preliminary model results: Our calculations show excellent match between experimental and model results