Assessing the fresh properties of printable cement-based materials: High potential tests for quality control

In the absence of a formwork, printable materials are expected to quickly increase their consistency in order to resist the self-weight of the structure being printed. Resolving this rheological requirement with the printing process is the key to successful printing. It is therefore necessary, from a material design, from a process design and from a daily quality control point of view, to have the ability to measure the relevant fresh properties. Because of the range of stresses of interest, there only exist a few standard tests in literature allowing for such an assessment while some new ones were developed in the last decade. The present paper aims at presenting some of these tests along with some preliminary data supporting their ability to capture the material properties of interest while discussing the remaining and related open research questions.