Modeling and analysis of 3D-printed reinforced and prestressed concrete beams

Three-dimensional (3D)-printed concrete is believed to have a significant impact in
the construction industry in the future. Some research has been conducted experimentally and analytically to investigate the structural behavior of 3D-printed concrete elements, such as beams. Previous study by the authors attempted to analytically model 3D-printed reinforced concrete (RC) beams failing in flexure that were tested by other researchers. The study was done with the aid of a finite element software. However, there are some limitations of the analytical model to simulate the failure mode of the specimens. In this study, an improvement of the
analytical model is proposed in order to simulate the behavior of the 3D-printed RC beams more accurately. Furthermore, the analysis was also expanded for 3D-printed prestressed concrete (PC) beam. From the analysis results, it can be concluded that the improved analytical model is able to predict more accurately the failure mode as well as the hysteretic behavior of the 3D-printed RC beams. Nevertheless, a more sophisticated analytical model is needed to improve the
accuracy of the prediction for the 3D-printed PC beam.