Comprehensive review of 3D printed cementitious composites with carbon inclusions: Current Status and perspective for self-sensing capabilities

The use of 3D printing in concrete constructions holds great promise due to its inherent benefits, including environmental sustainability, increased productivity, and minimized labor and material waste. Concurrently, the emergence of self-sensing cementitious composites, often achieved by incorporating conductive fillers within the cement matrix, has captured considerable attention in both scientific literature and industry. These composites exhibit sensory capabilities via piezor esistivity, whereby mechanical stress and strain induce changes in material resistivity, yielding measurable responses. The fusion of these two technologies holds vast potential, especially in enabling scalable smart concrete structures via 3D printing, supplemented with self-monitoring and self-diagnosing capabilities at strategic locations. Despite recent research and development efforts, there remains a notable absence of a comprehensive examination of existing knowledge coupled with a forward-looking assessment of potential future avenues. This review aims to fill this gap by providing an in-depth exploration of the current state of 3D concrete printing incorporating carbon inclusions, covering articles from 2017 to 2024. Moreover, it seeks to identify and analyze foreseeable challenges and outline prospective trajectories for the advancement of this groundbreaking technology. The addition of fillers alters the rheological properties of the composite while enhancing other characteristics, such as sensing capabilities, highlighting the need to develop tailored mixing and preparation procedures.