Advances in 3D-Printed Concrete: Quality Control, Structural Performance, and Sustainable Applications

A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Building Materials, and Repair & Renovation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 December 2026 | Viewed by 22

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
Interests: 3D printed concrete; recycled aggregate concrete; shrinkage properties; optical fiber sensor; computer vision

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Guest Editor
College of Civil Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350116, China
Interests: recycled aggregate concrete; seawater sea-sand concrete; durability of concrete structures; reliability analysis; 3D-printed concrete
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
School of Civil Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China
Interests: structural health monitoring; digital twin; machine learning; structural performance; concrete 3D printing
School of Civil and Architectural Engineering, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
Interests: 3D printed concrete; concrete; recycled concrete; numerical simulation; finite element analysis

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Amid the global industrial transformation towards digitalization and automation, additive manufacturing is making significant inroads into the construction sector. Among these advances, 3D-printed concrete (3DPC) stands out by revolutionizing conventional construction approaches, offering unparalleled design freedom, reduced material consumption, and improved automation.

Despite these promising advantages—such as lowered labor demand, shorter project timelines, and efficient material usage—several technical challenges remain to be addressed. For 3DPC to evolve from an emerging prototyping technique into a widely adopted construction method, key issues concerning quality control, structural integrity, and sustainability must be systematically overcome.

This Special Issue, named “Advances in 3D-Printed Concrete: Quality Control, Structural Performance, and Sustainable Applications”, is dedicated to exploring the next frontiers of 3DPC technology. We invite the submiission of high-quality original research papers addressing topics including, but not limited to, the following:

  • Quality control and assessment methods for 3DPC;
  • Comparation between 3DPC and conventional construction processes;
  • Structural performance and health monitoring for 3DPC elements;
  • Sustainable development for materials, processes and equipment of 3DPC;
  • Life cycle assessment for 3DPC materials and structures;
  • Engineering case studies and real-world applications of 3DPC structures.

Dr. Hanghua Zhang
Dr. Kaijian Zhang
Dr. Yanke Tan
Dr. Haoran Liu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Buildings is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • concrete 3D printing
  • automation in construction
  • computer vision
  • construction process control
  • structural health monitoring
  • sustainable cementitious materials
  • life cycle assessment

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Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission.
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