Preparation and Performance Study of 3D-Printed Glass Bead Insulation Mortar

Abstract

In this article, based on concrete 3D printing technology, a glass bead insulation mortar that can be used for 3D printing is prepared by an orthogonal experimental design method. The effects of the glue-sand ratio, water-cement ratio, fly ash dosage, slaked lime dosage, and rubber powder dosage on the mortar’s printability, mechanical properties, and thermal insulation properties, are analyzed in detail. The results show that fluidity is an important parameter to characterize the printability of thermal insulation mortar, and it was found that the mortar has good printability when the fluidity range is 150–170 mm. Fly ash and slaked lime can replace part of the silicate cement, and the appropriate amount of mixing fly ash and slaked lime can not only improve the fluidity of the thermal insulation mortar but also has the role of saving resources and protecting the environment. For the materials and equipment used in this study, through the vertical comparison of different levels of a single factor of printing performance, it can be seen that the printability of the thermal insulation mortar is best when the water-cement ratio is 2.7, the glue-sand ratio is 0.9, the dosage of fly ash is 20%, the dosage of slaked lime is 5%, and the dosage of rubber powder is 2%.