Embedment of 3D Printed Self-Sensing Composites for Smart Cementitious Components

Area of Science:

• Civil Engineering
• Materials Science
• Additive Manufacturing

Background:

• 3D printing (3DP) in civil engineering offers advantages but faces challenges in quality control and component uniqueness.
• Prior work developed 3D-printable self-sensing cementitious materials with enhanced piezoresistive properties using graphite powder and carbon microfibers.
• Integrating these self-sensing materials into conventional 3DP components is key for condition assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To enable condition assessment of cementitious 3D-printed components by integrating self-sensing materials.
• To investigate 3D-printed conductive electrode designs for imparting strain sensing capabilities.
• To evaluate the performance of different strip patterns for self-sensing applications in 3DP.

Main Methods:

• Developed 3D-printable self-sensing cementitious materials by incorporating graphite powder and carbon microfibers.
• Designed and investigated three different 3D-printed strip patterns (one, two, and three strips) as conductive electrodes.
• Characterized the strain sensing capabilities through quasi-static and dynamic tests.

Main Results:

• The three-strip design exhibited the highest sensitivity (λstat = 669, λdyn = 630).
• The two-strip design achieved the highest signal quality (SNRstat = 9.5 dB, SNRdyn = 10.8 dB).
• Demonstrated the feasibility of hybrid manufacturing integrating self-sensing materials into 3DP.

Conclusions:

• 3D-printed self-sensing cementitious materials can be integrated into conventional components for condition assessment.
• The developed hybrid manufacturing approach enables monitoring of print quality and defect identification.
• This technology facilitates real-time structural health monitoring in 3D-printed constructions.