Use of Basalt Powder to Replace Cement in 3D-Printed Concrete

The cement industry is one of the largest sources of carbon pollution, contributing approximately 8% of the world’s carbon emissions. Three-dimensional (3D)-printed concrete is an innovative technology that reduces construction waste. However, the printed material requires a significant amount of cement. This study aimed to evaluate basalt powder as an alternative mineral admixture to replace cement in 3D-printed concrete. The results demonstrated that basalt powder can effectively replace up to 5% of cement without compromising flowability, setting time, or the compressive strength of hardened mortar. This indicates that basalt powder can compensate for the reduction in cement powder. Furthermore, the mixture proportion was successfully used to print a load-bearing wall with a load-bearing capacity comparable to that of the control mixture without basalt powder. For M10 and M15, modifications were required before they could be used as printed materials.