Pocket vane and penetrometer as quality control tool for Extrusion 3D concrete printing

The development of 3D concrete printing has led to a broad array of digital construction processes, with extrusion-based techniques emerging as the most widespread. Despite significant advances, the lack of standardized procedures for quality control and structural design continues to impede broader industrial adoption. Effective quality control in 3D concrete printing requires that the rheological properties of fresh materials align with the demands of the printing process, thereby calling for rapid, field-deployable testing methods. Among recent developments, the slug test has shown promise by enabling estimation of the initial shear yield stress based on the mass of extruded slugs. However, this method provides limited insight into buildability, which depends on the time-dependent evolution of the material’s yield stress. To address this gap, pocket vane and penetration tests have been adapted for use in 3D printing contexts. Vane tests, when conducted with pocket devices, allow in situ tracking of the yield stress over time, while penetration tests—performed using either slow or fast protocols—offer valuable information on the material’s strength development. This paper presents a protocol that combines pocket vane and penetrometer testing to simultaneously evaluate shear yield stress and internal friction angle in printable mortars. The proposed approach is validated through experimental investigations on four different mortar formulations, demonstrating its relevance for practical quality control in extrusion-based 3D concrete printing.