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Chinese Journal of Engineering Design  2025, Vol. 32 Issue (3): 308-315    DOI: 10.3785/j.issn.1006-754X.2025.04.182
Theory and Method of Mechanical Design     
Design of flow stability control strategy for 3D printed concrete
Yixuan HAN1(),Zongfang MA1,Jing HE1(),Lin SONG1,Chao LIU2,Heng CUI1
1.College of Information and Control Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China
2.College of Civil Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, China
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Abstract  

The stable control of the flowability of 3D printed concrete is significant for improving the forming quality of printed components. The existing approaches to improving printing accuracy mainly focus on the optimization of concrete material properties, the mechanical structure optimization of printing equipment, and the optimization of printing process parameters. But in fact, whether the flowability of concrete is stable or not directly affects the printing quality. Therefore, from the perspective of control, the relationship between the flowability of concrete and the printing accuracy was analyzed first, and the flow stability control system structure for 3D printed concrete was proposed. Then, a PID (proportional-integral-derivative) control strategy based on PSO (particle swarm optimization) algorithm was designed, which could achieve multiple real-time online optimizations of control parameters and improve the stable control performance of 3D printed concrete flowability. Finally, the feasibility and superiority of the designed PSO-PID control strategy were verified through simulation analysis and printing experiments. The simulation results showed that the PSO-PID control strategy could meet the stable control requirements of concrete flowability. The printing experiments indicated that the PSO-PID control strategy could ensure the continuous and uniform extrusion of concrete, effectively improving the forming accuracy of printed components. The proposed method achieves the stable control of concrete flowability by real-time control of mechanical parameters, which can provide technical support for the engineering application of 3D printed concrete technology.



Key words3D printed concrete      flowability      particle swarm optimization algorithm      PID control strategy      printing accuracy     
Received: 03 December 2024      Published: 02 July 2025
CLC:  TP 23  
Corresponding Authors: Jing HE     E-mail: yixuanhan@xauat.edu.cn;hejing0811@xauat.edu.cn
Cite this article:

Yixuan HAN,Zongfang MA,Jing HE,Lin SONG,Chao LIU,Heng CUI. Design of flow stability control strategy for 3D printed concrete. Chinese Journal of Engineering Design, 2025, 32(3): 308-315.

URL:

https://www.zjujournals.com/gcsjxb/10.3785/j.issn.1006-754X.2025.04.182     OR     https://www.zjujournals.com/gcsjxb/Y2025/V32/I3/308


3D打印混凝土流动度稳定控制策略设计

3D打印混凝土流动度的稳定控制对于提高打印构件的成形质量具有重要意义。现有的打印精度提升途径主要集中在混凝土材料特性优化、打印设备机械结构优化和打印工艺参数优化等方面。但事实上,混凝土流动度稳定与否直接影响打印质量。为此,从控制角度出发,首先分析了混凝土流动度与打印精度的关系,提出了3D打印混凝土流动度稳定控制系统结构;然后,设计了一种基于PSO(particle swarm optimization,粒子群优化)算法的PID(proportional-integral-derivative,比例-积分-微分)控制策略,可实现控制参数实时在线多次优化,提升了3D打印混凝土流动度稳定控制性能。最后,通过仿真分析和打印实验验证了所设计的PSO-PID控制策略的可行性和优越性。仿真结果表明,PSO-PID控制策略可满足混凝土流动度稳定控制的要求;实验结果表明,PSO-PID控制策略能保证混凝土连续、均匀地挤出,有效提升了打印构件的成形精度。所提出的方法通过实时控制机械参数实现了混凝土流动度的稳定控制,可为3D打印混凝土技术的工程应用提供技术支撑。


关键词: 3D打印混凝土,  流动度,  粒子群优化算法,  PID控制策略,  打印精度 
Fig.1 Shapes of concrete printed components under different flowability
Fig.2 Flow stability control system structure for 3D printed concrete
Fig.3 Flow stability control system block diagram for 3D printed concrete based on PSO-PID
Fig.4 Flow stability control process for 3D printed concrete based on PSO-PID
Fig.5 Simulation model of flow stability control system for 3D printed concrete
Fig.6 Simulation results of flow stability control based on PSO-PID
Fig.7 Response curve of flow stability control system based on different algorithms
Fig.8 Truss-type concrete 3D printer
Fig. 9 Comparison of concrete printed components under different discharge motor speeds
Fig. 10 Comparison of concrete printed components based on different control strategies
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