Effects of the distribution of solid particles on the rheological properties and buildability of 3DPM fresh pastes with different FA/GGBFS content

3D printing technology has attracted great attention from the construction industry for its superior performance compared with traditional construction technology. In this study, the rheological properties of fresh mixed pastes with different contents of fly ash (FA) and granular ground blast furnace slag (GGBFS) were evaluated by analyzing rheology indices and the fitting of the Bingham model, and the relationship between the rheological properties, the buildability of 3D Printing Material (3DPM) and n value of the Rosin–Rammler distribution function was established. The results show that with increasing FA or GGBFS content, the rheological properties (fluidity, yield stress, and plastic viscosity) of fresh mixed pastes first improved and then deteriorated, and the n value (constant for the width of the particle distribution) first decreased and then increased. When the FA content was 20%, the paste fluidity reached a maximum value of 178 mm, the n value (1.01782) was the smallest, the particle size distribution was the widest, the accumulation was the best, and the buildability of 3DPM was the best. In addition, it can be seen from the SEM analysis that FA and GGBFS participate in the cement hydration to a limited extent, which mainly play the role of compaction and adjustment of particle size distribution. This is consistent with the test results of XRD. In short, by adjusting the amount of FA and GGBFS, the particle size distribution of the whole cementitious material system changes. When the fluidity of 3DPM was between 160 and 180 mm, the smaller the n value of the Rosin–Rammler distribution function, the better its buildability was. Graphical abstract