Effects of Bentonite on Printability of 3D Printing Mortar

To ascertain the influences of bentonite and its content on the printability of 3D printing mortar, the extrudability of mortar was evaluated via fluidity, and its buildability was evaluated by height retention rate and penetration resistance. Also, the rheological behavior of cement pastes with bentonite was characterized via dynamic and static shear tests. Effects of bentonite and its content on the printability of mortars were analyzed via rheology. The results show that the fluidity of printable mortars is linearly correlated to the plastic viscosity of cement pastes and logarithmically to the dynamic yield stress of cement pastes. Besides, there is an exponential relationship between the height retention rate of printable mortars and the static yield stress of cement pastes. The addition of bentonite in the mortar increases the plastic viscosity and dynamic yield stress of cement pastes, resulting in a decrease in the extrudability of mortar. Also, the addition of bentonite improves the static yield stress and structural rebuilding rate of cement pastes, thereby improving the buildability of mortar. Therefore, appropriate amount of bentonite can make the mortar maintain good extrudability while improving its buildability. A width ratio between the top and bottom layers of the printed sample with 2% bentonite is 0.96. © 2022, Editorial Department of Journal of the Chinese Ceramic Society. All right reserved.