Finite element model of 3D printed reinforcement for roads

While 3D concrete printing (3DCP) is recognized as a viable automa-tion option in the building construction sector, limited work has been done in order to use the technology in automating road construction or rehabilitation ac-tivities. This paper assesses the possibility of using a particle-bed printing tech-nique known as aggregate bed printing to create structures that reinforce base or subbase pavement layers via finite element modelling.
The study briefly explains the reasoning behind the proposed concept and re-views the results obtained from the finite element model developed. Model box plate load tests were simulated using ABAQUS for unreinforced, geocell rein-forced and concrete reinforced specimens under static loading.
The results show that both geocell and concrete reinforcements perform quite similar under static loading. Both reinforcement techniques performed better than the unreinforced specimen. While geocell reduced the deformation from 26.95 mm to 3.24 mm, concrete confinement decreased it to 4.43 mm. In addi-tion, the study stresses the necessity of examining the variation in properties be-tween aggregate bed printed structures and mouldcast concrete elements.
Finally, the paper elaborates on the limitations of the model developed and proposes the use of optimization techniques combined with finite element mod-elling to optimize the printing shape and further improve the performance.