PSI - Issue 78

Han Liu et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 78 (2026) 1759–1766

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Fig. 4: (a) Electrical percolation curves showing the three-specimen average resistivity ( ρ ) as a function of CMF doping level; and (b)-(f) time-series plots of the FCR measured between AB, BC, CD, DE, and EF electrodes of the beam specimen, respectively.

5. Conclusion

This study demonstrated the integration of self-sensing functionality into 3D-printed cementitious beams by se lectively doping Sikacrete with G and CMF. A functionally graded beam was fabricated, with conductive layers at the bottom enabling strain sensing and normal concrete layers at the top providing structural strength. The optimal mix design (2G250M62CCMF) was identified based on percolation behavior and printability. Embedded steel an chors served as electrodes, allowing real-time electrical resistance measurements. Dynamic flexural testing confirmed that the self-sensing layers e ff ectively tracked bending strain through piezoresistive responses, with spatial resolution reflecting the strain distribution. These results demonstrated the potential of 3D printing for embedding distributed sensing directly into cement-based structures, o ff ering a scalable approach for real-time structural health monitoring in future construction applications.

Acknowledgements

This material is partly supported by the National Science Foundation under Grants No. 2349792 and 2431765, and by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) via the FIS2021 Advanced Grant “SMS-SAFEST - Smart Masonry enabling SAFEty-assessing STructures after earthquakes” (FIS00001797). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation and the MUR.