Advances and Current Trends in 3D Concrete Printing for Engineering Structures

Abstract

In recent years, with advancing technology, the need for human labor has decreased in various sectors, and robots have taken over almost every stage of production. Particularly, the three-dimensional (3D) concrete technology that is emerging in the construction sector and gaining popularity day by day can be seen in urban furniture, various decoration products, home and office production, and even bridge examples. Research and applications show that 3D concrete is preferred over traditional concrete in many aspects due to its advantages. In the future, the advantages of 3D concrete technology, such as being more cost-effective than traditional concrete, faster production, high strength due to the concrete class, minimal need for human labor, and ease of production, will make it more preferred. While there are only a limited number of structures in the world produced entirely using 3D concrete technology for transportation infrastructure, there are no examples in our country yet. The aim of this study is to determine the advantages of 3D concrete technology based on scientific data and to examine examples of its use in road engineering structures. Since a significant part of the construction sector constitutes the transportation sector, the usability of 3D concrete technology in transportation is also discussed. As a result of the study, it is concluded that there are already examples of 3D concrete technology for road transportation engineering structures, especially bridges. Since this technology is still relatively new and not widely used, future project examples for its use in transportation have been explored.