Effect of natural and calcined halloysite clay minerals as low-cost additives on the performance of 3D-printed alkali-activated materials

Mehdi Chougan, Seyed Hamidreza Ghaffar*, Behzad Nematollahi, Pawel Sikora, Tobias Dorn, Dietmar Stephan, Abdulrahman Albar, Mazen J. Al-Kheetan

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)
25 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This study investigates the effects of natural and calcined halloysite clay minerals (“NH” and “CH”, respectively) on the performance of 3D printed alkali-activated materials (AAMs). Halloysite clay minerals are selected as they are low-cost and abundantly available. At first, different characterisation techniques were employed to characterise the NH and CH additives. Mechanical performance, extrusion window, and shape stability of several AAM formulations containing various dosages (0.5 wt% to 5 wt%) of the NH and CH additives were evaluated. The best-performing mixtures in terms of fresh and hardened properties namely, NH-1.5 and CH-1.5 mixtures (containing 1.5 wt% of NH and CH additives, respectively) were then selected for 3D printing. The results showed that the CH-1.5 mixture exhibited enhanced shape stability, buildability, and mechanical properties as compared to the control mixture. The flexural and compressive strengths of 3D printed CH-1.5 samples were 88% and 40%, respectively higher than those of the printed control samples. Using the CH-1.5 mixture, a twisted column with an intricate shape was printed to verify the suitability of the developed CH-modified AAM for the construction of complex structures. This study establishes the use of halloysite clay minerals as low-cost additives for enhancing the mechanical properties and printing performance of AAMs.

Original languageEnglish
Article number111183
Number of pages13
JournalMaterials and Design
Volume223
Early online date20 Sept 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Seyed Hamidreza Ghaffar and Mehdi Chougan would like to acknowledge the funding received from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement ID: 101029471. Pawel Sikora acknowledges funds received from the National Science Centre, Poland, within Project No. 2020/39/D/ST8/00975 (SONATA-16).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022

Keywords

  • 3D printing
  • Alkali-activated materials
  • Halloysite clay mineral
  • Mechanical properties
  • Shape retention

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Materials Science
  • Mechanics of Materials
  • Mechanical Engineering

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