Search Results (2)

The objective of this research is the improvement of the physical properties of artificial sandstone in order to obtain a printable construction material whose composition and structure is suitable for the design, study and construction of environmentally friendly architectural structures. To investigate the suitability of the researched material for 3D printing and determine the physical and mechanical properties of the starch-based sandstone 3D-printed material, both cylindrical and cellular samples were designed. The 3D-printed artificial starch–sandstone material was found to have satisfactory mechanical properties. Full article

A new biodegradable, sustainable and environmentally friendly building material is introduced and studied in this work, which can be applied to lightweight architectural structures, aiming for the reduction of the greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation of the climate change effects. The focus was to investigate the effect of water concentration and different types of sand on the mechanical properties of corn starch-based artificial sandstone. A series of cubic, cylindrical and disk specimens were prepared by varying the concentration of water and using different sources of commercial quartz sand. The quasi-static and cyclic compressive properties of starch-based artificial sandstone samples were measured as a function of water concentration and sand type, while the structure of the artificial sandstone specimens was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy. Moreover, the Brazilian Test was employed as the indirect method to determine the tensile strength of the samples based on the type of the commercial sand they contained. The experimental results showed that the homogeneous grading of sand grains and the latter’s chemical composition have a significant effect on the mechanical properties of the sandstone samples. The highest compression values were obtained using the microwave heating method at a water concentration of about 12 wt%, while the cyclic compression and Brazilian Tests have shown that the granulometric grading of the sand particles and the chemical composition of the sand influence the compressive and tensile strength of the material. Full article