Automation in Construction 83 (2017) 212–221

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Automation in Construction
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/autcon

Effects of interlocking on interlayer adhesion and strength of structures in MARK

3D printing of concrete
Babak Zareiyana,⁎, Behrokh Khoshnevisb
a
Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Southern California, Kaprielian Hall, 3620 S Vermont Ave #225, Los Angeles, CA
90089, United States
b
Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, University of Southern California, United States

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: 3D printing of concrete uses computer controlled layering of cementitious material to fabricate structures. The
3D printing paper presented here investigates the effect of interlocking on bond strength between layers of Contour Crafted
Interlocking structure using experimental approaches. A concrete mixture which is compatible with the existing extrusion
Interlayer adhesion system is used and different interlock configurations are tested. The results show that bonding strengths is
Contour Crafting (CC)
sensitive to interlocking and it can be increased by an average of 26% as shown by splitting test.

1. Introduction object was fabricated through laying down cementitious material layer
by layer.
Bonding between layers in 3D printing is critical in many applica- Contour Crafting, D-shape [7], concrete printing [8], and selective
tions especially in 3D printing of concrete. Although in some cases bond deposition for ultra-high performance concrete [1] are four large scale
strengths as strong as the bulk material (the monolithic segments) are additive manufacturing processes. D-shape technology was developed
achievable [1], a series of preliminary experiments on layered concrete based on spraying bonding liquid on predefined area of the sand layer.
fabrication show the vulnerability of the structures due to low strength Printing head as the core of the system moves along x-y-z axis and
at bond interfaces. spreads the solid material in a uniform horizontal layer before spraying
In this paper, proper mixture for Contour Crafting (CC) was devel- the bonding liquid. The printing head lifts up on the z-axis and the same
oped and the bond strengths at interface were measured by different sequence is repeated until the model is completed [9].
test methods. The outcome of the research is a detailed understanding Concrete printing is another large scale additive manufacturing
of the application of interlocking on layers of 3D printed concrete process based on the extrusion of cement mortar [8]. It is a digitally
structure for homogenous and sustainable fabrication. controlled additive manufacturing method based on freeform, layer-
based, manufacturing technique [10]. 3D printing of ultra-high per-
1.1. Contour Crafting formance concrete is based on depositing layer by layer of concrete
similar to FDM technique [1]. Le et al. [11] developed a high-perfor-
Rapid mega-scale manufacturing [2], utilizing Building Information mance printing concrete based on characteristic of self-compacting
Modeling (BIM) in different phases of construction [3], passive design concrete and sprayed concrete.
strategies [4], and sensing automation technology [5,6] are possible Contour Crafting (CC) uses concrete, polymer, ceramic [12], and
responses to lower down the cost of construction, improve energy ef- sulfur concrete [13] to build large scale objects. The trowel control
ficiency, and increase occupants' satisfaction. mechanism is the main part of the machine. Fig. 2 shows one type of
3D printing of concrete uses computer control layering of material extrusion unit which carries uncured ceramic paste. The angle and or-
to fabricate structures by integrating computer aided design (CAD) and ientation of the side trowel are adjustable to shape a complex geometry
computer aided manufacturing (CAM). The technology is based on [14]. In CC, free form designs are achievable by utilizing robotic arm
additive manufacturing process which is deposition of successive layers that is traversing in 3-dimensional space.
of material to shape the object. Fig. 1 shows the process which starts In 1999, Richard J. Russell II [16] completed his PhD dissertation on
with modeling the object that can be of almost any geometry. At second analyzing polystyrene melt flow using Contour Crafting through ex-
level, the 3D model was processed and sliced in layers. Finally, the perimental approach. In 2002, Hongkyu Kwon [12] continued the

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (B. Zareiyan).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2017.08.019
Received 8 November 2016; Received in revised form 28 July 2017; Accepted 10 August 2017
0926-5805/ © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
B. Zareiyan, B. Khoshnevis Automation in Construction 83 (2017) 212–221

Fig. 1. Additive manufacturing process.

research on CC by using experimental approach for uncured ceramic improve the performance of composite materials (e.g. sandwich panels)
material. He investigated the effect of side trowel on the capability and [25].
quality of the Contour Crafting process to fabricate 2.5D and 3D parts, Topologically interlocked material is categorized as a class of
and he concluded that the surface quality of the extruded part with granular crystal which is made of an assembly of polyhedral elements
trowels on two sides was better than a single side trowel on the exterior [26]. This fabrication technique allows some limited movement of the
angle. Kwon also simulated the pattern of flow in the CC nozzle during blocks and can be used to build mortarless structures [27]. Topologi-
fabrication processes with CFD software to study the effect of the cally interlocked structures are damage tolerant because of the struc-
pressure on the extrusion and geometry. tural defect and cracks contained in the individual units [28]. There-
In 2005, Dooli Hwang [17] used experimental approach to study the fore, the structure has higher resistance to fracture propagation [29].
application of Contour Crafting on a full scale concrete wall. His re- Research by Schaare et al. [22] has shown potential of high energy
search showed that designing the setting time depends on time of de- absorption and self-reversible mechanical behavior in topologically
position cycle, material delivery, CC machine preparation, and fabri- interlocked cubes. Mechanical and functional properties including re-
cation rate. He also added Bentonite (A12O3-5SiO2-7H2O), plastic clay, sistance to crack propagation, tolerance to local failure, and energy
to the mix to increase the paste plasticity and decrease the water see- absorption are advantages of topological interlocking [19,30–32].
page. The critical challenge of 3D printing is the development of techni-
In 2012, Tony Di Carlo [18] applied experimental and numerical ques that adhere to extruded layers to achieve a homogenous structure.
techniques to analyze the structural properties of fresh concrete subject The prime objective of this study is to investigate the impact of inter-
to Contour Crafting. He developed a special mortar mixture which can locking on the strength of structure in Contour Crafting.
be safely used for layered fabrication. His proposed cementitious mix-
ture was suitable for freeform-layered fabrication and was tested for a
full-scale demonstration. Di Carlo also studied the structural properties 1.3. Research significance
of fresh concrete for safe layering by developing analytical and nu-
merical tools. With a rapid increase in additive manufacturing and rapid proto-
typing in construction, there is a great interest in enhancing the
1.2. Layer interlocking structural integrity of the 3D printed structure. A possible solution to
this problem can be top surface preparation of the substrate, application
3D printed structure with interlocking of subsequent layers re- of different binders, and better managing of the curing process. The
presents a new approach to support integrity of the structure. objective of this paper is to use experimental techniques to describe the
Interlocking layers are often used in the 3D printing of mechanical effect of interlocking on layering of fresh concrete. The result of this
structures, jewelry, and parts with complex geometries. research, which is based on material selection and the fabrication re-
Topological interlocking is a design principle for structures that gime, may be used to introduce a methodology to enhance the bond
elements are held together purely by geometrical constraints without interface of cementitious material used in 3D printing. The test results
binder or connector [19]. This type of assemblies provides an alter- should be in the interest of designers and engineers involved in devel-
native to monolithic structures and can be effective in addressing some oping additive manufacturing, and especially for those involved in CC.
of the critical engineering problems [20–24]. It can also be applied to

Fig. 2. Adjustable side trowel to shape different geometry [15].

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interface strength by fracture mechanics parameters (tensile interface

strength and fracture energy).
The slant shear method (Fig. 3D) measures the bond strength for
shear and compression combined. Slant shear was proposed by Kreigh
for the bond strength of resinous repair material and old concrete [40].
Further modification and researches on Kreigh's test were performed
using a prism with a cross-section that was one third of the length used
by Wall and Shrive [41], and also using the test for cementitious ma-
terial instead of resinous by Abu-Tair [42]. The specimen was loaded in
a standard compression test machine with unrealistic loading condi-
tions, which affected the experiment to report results that were gen-
erally higher than that of other tests.
The torsion bond strength test was introduced by Silfwerband
(Fig. 3E) and can be applied to measure the shear strength at interfaces
[43]. Fig. 3F shows the shear strength measurement by applying forces
parallel to interface. There are different modified shear strength tests
but the majority of them have difficulties in load alignment and the
results are scattered. For example, in Fig. 3F-3, the ratio of the interface
to the length of the specimen has to be designed in such a way that
cracks propagate at interface, or in Fig. 3F-2 the result shows the
strength at two interfaces. In the case of the concrete repair material, it
is not practical [44], but can resemble the Contour Crafted wall.
Mechanical adhesion in tension determined by transverse anchorage
Fig. 3. Interface bond strength test methods. in pores and voids differs from mechanical adhesion in shear [45]. The
choice of bond strength test method is crucial, and different test
1.4. Mechanical test methods for interface strength in concrete structure methods cause distinct interface stress conditions in specimens, there-
fore, the appropriate test is the one for which the nature of loading is
Shear, tension, and torsion tests are common test methods for in- the most similar to that of stress conditions of the actual structure.
terface strength. Several tests have been developed to measure the bond Preliminary experiments were performed in this research based on the
strength of new and old concrete, and test results may vary sub- pull-off test method. For pull-off tests the force must be applied per-
stantially based on loading rate, specimen size, experiment set-up, etc. pendicular to the interface, and misalignment causes large scattering in
[33]. However, the applicability of these tests to Contour Crafting and results. For the majority of trials, there was a mixed mode of failure,
the difference between the results of methods have not been studied and failure occurred in both layers and interfaces instead of just in-
yet. Momayez compared four test methods to measure the bond terfaces. Fig. 4 illustrate failure mode in specimens tested with the pull-
strength between old and new concrete. He found out that the bond off test method. Though this can be interpreted to show that there is
strength from some tests is eight times larger than others, and pull-off higher strength at interfaces, such an interpretation within the context
and splitting test provides the most conservative results [34]. of this research makes the comparison between results impractical.
Fig. 3 shows the existing test methods for measuring the bond Finally, splitting prism test was used to quantify the tensile strength at
strength between layers of old and new concrete. The most common test interfaces.
method for the bond strength is the pull-off test (Fig. 3A). Delatte et al.
indicated that the result of a pull-off test is highly dependent on ec- 2. Experimental study
centricity of applied loads, and result can be largely scattered [35].
Moreover, the tensile stress strength of the layer should be more than The main objectives of the proposed research are development of an
the bond strength otherwise the specimen will break at layers and in- experimental technique to analyze the impact of the interlocking on the
terlayer adhesion will not be quantified. interface bond strength, to understand the structural integrity of a
The splitting test of concrete (Fig. 3B) was first introduced by Contour Crafted wall, and characterize the failure behavior at the in-
Akazawa in Japan [36], and now has been adopted as a standard test terface of interlocked cementitious composite.
ASTM C496 [37] as a way of measuring indirect tension. Ramey and Fig. 5 shows the research components and pathway toward the
Strickland developed a splitting test to measure the bond strength be- proposed objective. The problem has been tackled in three different
tween old concrete and repair material [38]. They used the same
equation as that of a homogenous cylinder to calculate the tensile
strength of the cylinders made of two layers of old and new concrete,
and obtained the consistent results. Fig. 3B shows that in the splitting
test, the longitudinal compression load is applied on the cross section of
the prism sample and results in the tension at the interface, which split
the sample into two parts.
The wedge splitting test, which uses a 4″×4″× 4″ cube with a notch
on the top and interface in the middle, was introduced by Tschegg [39].
Groove and the starter notches were designed during the fabrication
process. Fig. 3C shows the principle of wedge splitting concept. Force
from testing machine was applied on the center line of the wedge load,
starter notch, and support area which are all in a vertical line. Hor-
izontal force causes splitting of the specimen, which can be calculated
based on a wedge of approximately 5° to 10° and the cube is split by
loading the wedge at the interface of two layers. This test measures the
Fig. 4. Plane of failure in specimen with pull-off test method.

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Fig. 5. Research components.

phases. In the first phase, compatible concrete mixture with current CC Table 2
machine has been introduced per previous experiments and research by Primarily test result for 3/16″ (4.75 mm) maximum size aggregate; [49,50].
authors. This mixture is based on initial strength development of fresh
Maximum aggregate size 3/16″
concrete and maximum final strength. In the second phase, different Setting time (ASTM C191) 45 min
interlocking configurations are examined based on the flow-ability of Wet density (wet mix) 140 lbs./ft3
the mixture. This approach has yielded a working concrete mixture 2 h compressive strength (ASTM C 39) 400 psi
with a range of interlocking configurations. Finally, through compres- 24 h compressive strength (ASTM C 39) 900 psi
7 day compressive strength (ASTM C 39) 2400 psi
sion and tension tests, different interlocking sizes between layers are 14 day compressive strength (ASTM C 39) 3066 psi
tested to achieve the optimum structural configuration based on max- 28 day compressive strength (ASTM C 39) 3800 psi
imum strength at the interface.

To analyze the mechanical properties of the mixture, fifteen speci-

2.1. Material mens of concrete mixture were prepared. All specimens were cast in 4
by 8-inch cylinder molds and were kept in room temperature for 24 h
A concrete mix consists of various aggregate sizes with mixtures of (for 14 days and 28 days' tests). The molds were stripped off afterwards,
cementitious material and water as a binder. The concrete strength is a and the samples were kept in water up to the time of testing. The
factor of the ratio of the amount of water to amount of cementitious specimens were capped prior to uniaxial compression testing. All spe-
material, aggregate to cement ratio, grading, shape, and size of the cimens were subject to axial compression stress until failure. The
aggregates, and the bond between binder and aggregate [46]. compression test results and average values of recorded peak loads of
In this section, concrete mixture having a 3800 psi compressive the three specimens are summarized in Table 3.
strength at 28 days is prepared using results of the previous research by The average compression strength as a function of age obtained
authors [47,48]. The binder is composed of 60% calcium sulfoalumi- from the experimental results is shown in Fig. 6. The results could be
nate (CSA) and 40% type I ordinary Portland cement (OPC) by mass. categorized into two groups: one for early strength development, and
Natural Sand River of 3/16″ (4.75 mm) maximum size and tap water the other for 14 and 28 days. In Contour Crafting, it is essential for the
are used to prepare the mortar. Table 1 illustrates the weight and vo- concrete to develop strength in a minimal amount of time such that the
lume of the ingredients in the base mixture. first layer can sustain the weight of the layers above, since successive
Table 2 shows the preliminary results for the mixture. Wet density layers will be applied minutes after the deposition of previous layer.
was measured immediately after mixing using a standard container and The first unconfined compression tests were performed 16 min after
with the same consolidation regimen implemented during fabrication of mixing. The mold was modified to allow the extraction of the barely set
the test article. cylinder without damaging it. Additional data points at 44 and 69 min
after mixing are needed. Fig. 7 shows that compressive strength
Table 1
The weight and volume of concrete mixture's ingredient [47].
Table 3
Batch weight Specific Absolute volume Compression test results [47].
(lb.) gravity (ft3)
Compression (psi)
CSA 9.00
Cement (Type I) 6.00 Maximum aggregate Specimen 16 min 44 min 69 min 14 days 28 days
Total cementitious 15.00 3.25 0.07 size
material
Aggregate 22.50 2.61 0.14 3/16″ (4.75 mm) 1 47 178 308 2930 3788
Water (W/C = 0.50) 7.50 1.00 0.12 2 52 209 287 3166 3921
Total 45.00 0.33 3 45 204 290 3102 3685
Average 48 197 295 3066 3798
Density of water 62.27 lbs./ft3 at 73.4 °F COV 7.5% 8.4% 3.9% 4.0% 3.1%
Chemical admixtures (superplasticizer and viscosity modifying admixtures) were added
to achieve desired workability and shape stability. Data in bold signifies average compression strength of 3 samples.

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Fig. 6. Compression strength at early age, 14 days and

28 days for concrete mixture.

Fig. 7. Compression strength at early age of concrete

mixture.

Fig. 8. Preliminary study on the size of the interlocking.

increases linearly with a coefficient of correlation of 0.99 for ages up to 2.2. Effects of interlocking on interlayer adhesion and strength of structures
69 min. in Contour Crafting

Contour Crafted walls can be made in the classical way, one layer on
top of another or by interlocking which can increase interlayer

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Table 4 minute intervals. Table 5 and Fig. 9 show the sequence of fabrication
Fabrication rate (height of layer = 2"). and the extrusion system. The process simulated Contour Crafting, with
the exception that CC is extrusion based and fully automated. After
Wall height 10 ft = 120 in
Total fabrication time 12 h = 720 min 4 min of mixing, concrete was placed in first layer. At time = 00:5:30
Fabrication rate 720 min/120 in = 6 min/in after placing was done, any extra particles were removed from the top
Height of a single layer h = 2 in surface of the layer and it was flattened by a finishing trowel to provide
Interval between layers t = 12 min a consistent surface roughness for all the specimens. Mixing for second
layer started after 12 min. At 15 min, mold was detached from the first
layer and was prepared for second layer right before placing the con-
Table 5
Fabrication sequence. crete (No. 3 to 6 on Fig. 9). At time = 00:16:00, the second layer was
added and after 24 min at time = 00:29:30 the entire mold was re-
Layer no. Mixing start Mixing stop Layer placing start Layer placing end moved. The specimens were placed in water after 24 h and were kept in
water until the time of testing.
1 0:00:00 0:04:00 0:04:00 0:05:30
2 0:12:00 0:16:00 0:16:00 0:17:30
2.2.2. Mechanical test
To ensure that fabricated structures can support the expected loads
adhesion by means of expanding the area of interface. Moreover, in- the bonding between layers should resist mechanical loads. In parti-
terlocked layers are expected to better absorb vibration and withstand cular, interlayer adhesion must be investigated to quantify the bonding
lateral loads than layers with simple flat interface. Inspired by the quality of the structures. Samples based on same concrete mixtures are
traditional wood joinery techniques, an interlock with simple tongue designed and placed under compression tests in the direction of inter-
and groove shape is selected as a mean of connecting two concrete face and split tensile to quantify bond strengths after 1, 3, 7, and
layers. The configuration of interlocking is varied to find the best per- 28 days.
formance This section includes the result of testing 96 samples in uniaxial
compression and splitting prism. Fig. 10 shows the size of the specimen,
depth of the tongue, and direction of the applied force. The sizes of all
2.2.1. Specimen preparation
samples were 4″ × 4″ × 4″. Forces are applied in uniaxial compression
Before designing the size of the tongues, a series of preliminary
in the direction of the layer interface (interlayer adhesion). For splitting
experiments were conducted to investigate the practicality of the ap-
prism tests a square cross section prism (4″ × 4″ × 4″ cube) is placed
proach and proper width to depth ratio for interlock features. Constant
under longitudinal compressive loading until tension stress splits the
factors in initial experiments were:
sample into two parts along upper and lower axes of loading.
All 96 specimens are tested under uniform load. Table 6 shows the
- Workability of the mixture which was designed to be compatible
test results for each sample, including the age of the sample, the
with the existing CC machine [48].
average strength, and the coefficient of variation (COV) after exclusion
- Width of the groove
of outliers. COVs vary from 3.2% to 8.4% for compression tests (in-
terlayer adhesion), and 4.2% to 9.7% for splitting prism tests, which all
Fig. 8 shows that concrete filled the interface between layers up to
are in reasonable ranges.
3/4″ depth for the groove and further increase resulted in non-uniform
The strengths for compression tests are calculated by dividing the
distribution. Therefore, 1/4″, 1/2″, and 3/4″ sizes for tongues were
maximum load by the area (16 in2). The strength for splitting prism
selected and compared. In addition, a layer with flat top surface
tests are calculated by Ϭ = 2P/πA, where Ϭ = splitting prism strength
(without the tongue and groove joint) was studied as base case.
(psi), p = applied force (lbf), and A = area of the interface (16 in2). For
The target fabrication rate was to erect a ten-foot high wall in 12 h
samples that don't have tongue and groove there is no interlocking,
(i.e., stacking rates of 10 in/h). Table 4 shows the fabrication rate of the
thus, these samples are treated as base case using the same formula.
layers. Height of a single layer was determined using results of previous
research by authors regarding interlayer adhesion. It was expected that
each layer gained strength to support its own weight, and after 12 min 2.2.3. Results and discussion
to support the weight of layers above. Beushausen and Alexander [45] compared the shear bond interface
The size of all specimens was 4″ × 4″ × 4″. Therefore, the mold of new and old concrete for the roughness of three different surfaces
system was designed based on casting two layers of 2-inch height in 12- and notches. Their results showed that notched interfaces have higher

Fig. 9. Layering process and fabrication schedule (2″ interlocking).

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Fig. 10. Direction of applied force on the specimens.

(A. Uniaxial compression test (interlayer adhesion), B.
splitting prism).

Table 6
Compressive and tensile strength for layers of fresh concrete (0″, 0.25″, 0.5″, and 0.75″ interlock).

Interlocking Specimen Compression test (layer adhesion) Specimen Splitting test (layer adhesion)

1 day 3 days 7 days 28 days 1 day 3 days 7 days 28 days

0.75″ 1 715 718 1468 2805 1 146 158 249 432

2 670 849 1336 3022 2 143 165 279 437
3 664 803 1297 3047 3 162 185 246 488
Average 683 790 1367 2958 Average 150 169 258 452
COV 4.1% 8.4% 6.6% 4.5% COV 6.9% 8.2% 7.1% 6.8%
0.50″ 1 803 982 1412 3276 1 177 214 317 516
2 789 912 1567 3360 2 173 186 266 609
3 754 881 1512 3498 3 201 224 315 598
Average 782 925 1497 3378 Average 184 208 299 574
COV 3.2% 5.6% 5.2% 3.3% COV 8.2% 9.5% 9.7% 8.9%
0.25″ 1 685 948 1452 3212 1 147 188 234 552
2 723 859 1372 3026 2 151 175 281 589
3 743 815 1265 3266 3 164 203 262 522
Average 717 874 1363 3168 Average 154 189 259 554
COV 4.1% 7.8% 6.9% 4.0% COV 5.7% 7.4% 9.1% 6.1%
0.00″ 1 640 734 1194 3098 1 146 162 246 473
2 691 823 1220 2889 2 128 163 251 462
3 703 834 1354 2977 3 153 188 214 436
Average 678 797 1256 2988 Average 142 171 237 457
COV 4.9% 6.9% 6.8% 3.5% COV 9.0% 8.6% 8.5% 4.2%

bond strength, up to 45% more than sandblast surfaces and 220% more forming in one side of the inhomogeneous cement based material, and
than smooth interfaces at 28 days. 2) cracks forming on both sides of the material.
The results of strength test up to 28 days are shown in Fig. 11 and Fig. 13 shows the average modes of failure for four different types of
Fig. 12. Interlocking features at the interface of the layers resulted in an specimens under splitting prism tests. Cracks can propagate in interface
increase in interlayer adhesion for samples of all different ages; how- of two layers in two different ways. In 0.25″ and 0.5″ length notches,
ever, there is an optimum in the length of tongue for interlock. The stress transferred to a large extent through the top layer while in spe-
influence of interlocking appears to peak at 0.5″, and additional depth cimens with 0.75″ notches and specimens without notches the plane of
to 0.75″ does not increase the strength of specimen at interface regions. failure are the same. Considering the crack propagation in four different
Moreover, the increased strength caused by interlocking is shown to be types of interlocking in 0.75″ notches and base case categories, the
higher in splitting prism tests than in compression tests (interlayer fracture process zone is formed on one side of the specimen (at inter-
adhesion). face), while in 0.25″ and 0.5″ notches a combination of cases occurs.
Higher strengths in specimens with notches can be investigated Therefore, more energy is needed to separate the layers. The role of
through the comparison of failure modes. Notch interfaces provide a overlays in the interlocking of layer interfaces indicate that the material
mechanical factor that increases the bond strength and results in dif- properties play an important role in overall strength of the interface,
ferent pattern in failure at interfaces. According to Pigeon and Saucier and higher strength materials can result in stronger interlayer adhesion.
[51], characteristics of the interfaces of new and old concrete are quite Delatte et al. [35] studied the bond strength between old and new
similar to the bond between cementitious materials and aggregate in concrete based on concrete maturity at early ages and concluded that
concrete mixtures, and can contribute to the understanding of the for- the new concrete layer is the dominant zone, and tensile and shear
mation and propagation of cracks in layers of concrete. Tschegg [39] strength at interfaces increase as early-age strength of new concrete
defined two extreme categories for such crack propagation: 1) cracks increases.

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Fig. 11. Comparison of bond interface for four types of interlock. Fig. 12. 28 days' strength development of four types of interlock.
(Uniaxial compression test (interlayer adhesion); splitting prism.) (Uniaxial compression test (interlayer adhesion); splitting prism.)

Beushausena and Alexander [45] investigated the failure mode of properly account for different loads. In this paper, the bond strengths of
old and new concrete under shear stress in specimens with notches. 96 samples (4″ × 4″ × 4″ cube) constructed with interlocking at in-
They examined the properties of fracture to determine the behavior of terface with constant width and four different depths (base case, 0.25″,
layers at interfaces. As shown in Fig. 14, they observed transformations 0.5″, and 0.75″) were tested. The result showed that bonding strength is
of stress to be mostly inside the overlay. sensitive to interlocking.
Crack formation and propagation play an important role in the Regardless of the test method used, interlocking layers (for 0.25″
structural performance of Contour Crafted walls, and the location of and 0.5″) increased the bond at interfaces of the layers. The bond
bond failure will aid in the investigation of the stress zones at inter- strength for specimens with 0.5″ interlocking increased from 16% to
faces. In specimens with interlocks fracture occurs at bonding (adhesive 19% with an average of 17% in comparison with the base case under
failure) and layers (cohesive), depending on the size of the notch. compression along layer interfaces (interlayer adhesion). Moreover, the
Under splitting prism tests, cracking progresses at layer interfaces, increase in bonding strength was 26% for splitting tests. The observed
whereas under compression failure they may be observed in the layers increase in bonding strength can be due to the increase in contact
themselves. Micro-cracks develop in compression tests, while shear surface of layers. Further experiments which have not been introduced
cracks are generated during splitting prism tests and influence the shear here, investigate the significance of the wall thickness on interlayer
capacity of the specimen. Fig. 15a shows failure at interfaces during adhesion and compare it with the result of interlocking.
splitting prism tests, and Fig. 15b shows that 28% of the specimens The results also indicated that increasing the depth of tongue at
failed by failure in layers when uniaxial compression loads were ap- interlock to 0.75″ diminished the effect and the strength was identical
plied (interlayer adhesion). to the base case. Part of the future work will deal with optimizing the
size of interlock considering the thickness and width of the deposited
3. Summary layer.

Despite a relatively simple construction method, Contour Crafted

structures usually show complex behavior when undergoing different
load conditions. This necessitates a suitable design approach to

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Fig. 13. Typical mode of failure in four types of notch.

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