Experimental Study and OpenSees Modelling for Thermal Response of 3D Printed Concrete Exposed to Fires

3D printed concrete has emerged as a promising technology to reshape the construction industry, as it enables unmanned and automated construction. However, the fire safety concerns associated with 3D-printed concrete buildings must be adequately addressed to ensure their viability. This paper aims to explore the fire performance of 3D-printed concrete by testing a small-scale specimen and using heat transfer modelling in OpenSees for fire. The specimen was exposed to varying heat fluxes via the H-Tris system. A numerical model is then developed to simulate this heating process OpenSees models of concrete in fire. The recorded experimental data (gas phase temperature and incident heat flux) served as the input of the heat transfer model to obtain the internal temperature curves of the printed concrete specimen. The simulated results were then compared with the test data to examine the heat transfer model. When extending the model to the 40mm print width commonly used for realistic 3D printed building wall elements, the simulation results showed that fire conditions had a significant impact on the structural stability of the exposed walls of 3D printed concrete.