Structural Behaviours of a Concrete Façade Panel Prototype Facilitated by 3D Printed Formwork

Façades are key building components, determining building performance and forming the interface between inhabitants and the general public. Accordingly, façades should integrate high aesthetic value with the capability to bear relevant loads. Contemporary architectural façade design strategies often employ complex shapes, which presents civil engineering challenges in terms of assessing structural performance as well as determining effective fabrication strategies. Using 3D concrete printing for fabrication can achieve freeform shapes but has several limitations including limited structural performance. Instead of directly 3D printing concrete elements, this paper presents an approach to fabricating geometrically complex façade elements in ultra-high-performance fibre-reinforced concrete using 3D printed formwork to achieve greater accuracy and cost efficiency compared to conventional fabrication methods. Following compression test and flexural test to examine the feasibility of using 3D printed formwork for concrete fabrication, a façade prototype with a non-standard shape using 3D printed polymer formwork and UHPFRC is examined for its structural behaviours. Results show that compressive strength and flexural strength are not affected negatively by the exterior 3D printed formwork. Meanwhile, the proposed façade prototype demonstrates good concrete flowability and load test results, promising a new construction method for concrete fabrication.