Standardization News

ASTM International’s additive manufacturing technologies committee (F42) is developing a suite of proposed standards that will be used for quality assurance and quality control of materials and components used for additive construction with cementitious materials.

The suite includes the following:

• Practice for Additive Manufacturing -- Fresh and Very Early Age Properties of Concretes Used for Additively Constructed Concrete by Means of Extrusion (WK89706);
• Practice for Additive Manufacturing -- Construction and Documentation of Additively Constructed Concrete and Mortar Components (WK89707);
• Practice for Additive Manufacturing -- Curing and Extraction of Sample from Additively Constructed Concrete and Mortar Components (WK90347), and;
• Test Method for Additive Manufacturing -- Determination of Hardened Mechanical Properties of Additively Constructed Concrete and Mortar (WK90348).

According to ASTM member Eric Kreiger, the proposed standards will have several groups of potential users:

• Contractors who develop and evaluate materials and construction quality in a factory or the field;
• Code regulators who will use the standards for reference;
• Structural engineers will use them for specification and construction submittal reviews;
• Laboratories that will use the standards for testing; and,
• Academia for data collection and comparison to other research.

“The proposed standards include many key items addressed in the UN SDGs, including potential of the technology to improve productivity and cost of construction,” says Kreiger, U.S. Army Research and Development Center. “In addition, the proposed standards will help improve structural performance and materials usage through geometrical freedom and provide the ability to reduce logistics and produce structures in dangerous and remote places.”

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals addressed: