ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Built Environ.
Sec. Construction Materials
Laser 3D Scanning for Shrinkage Measurement in 3DCP mortar: An Investigative Study
Provisionally accepted
- Department of Structural and Geotechnical Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, India
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The shrinkage evaluation of 3DCP mortars has been estimated using various methods such as length comparator, DIC methods that consider one dimension or a surface for estimating the shrinkage in the specimen. The application of metrology-grade laser 3D scanning (3DS) technology is potent in acquiring high high-accuracy point cloud. The study investigates the feasibility of assessing the shrinkage of 3D printable mix using 3D scanning (3DS) technology. The shrinkage can be assessed using two different methods (a) cloud volume computation and (b) M3C2 approach on the 3DS of the specimens at various time intervals, ranging from demoulding till 64 days. A total of 18 specimens were of different mixes with cement replacement with two clay-based materials (i.e. substitution percentage was varied between 0 and 22%). The specimens attained a similar pattern of shrinkage in post-demoulding, followed by an expansion due to curing, and an increased trend of shrinkage for a duration of 60 days of post-curing. The shrinkage performance in the 3DCP mixes was reduced with the addition of clay based cement replacement. In addition to that, cement to sand ratio and addition of fiber content had a significant impact in reducing the extent of shrinkage.The extent of effect of the above variables needs to be uncovered through through future studies. The cloud volume based shrinkage estimation assisted in understanding the overall shrinkage behavior of the specimen, however, it was susceptible to errors during scanning. M3C2 shrinkage estimation (i.e.) based on the mean deviation of the point cloud. The 3DS utilised in the shrinkage evaluation provides insight into the volumetric shrinkage using mesh volume calculation and the maximum extent of point deviation in the specimen through M3C2 point cloud processing. sdfsdf
Keywords: 3D concrete printing, 3D scanning, Additive manufacturing, M3C2, Shrinkage measurement
Received: 10 Dec 2025; Accepted: 31 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Jaganathan and Sunny. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jayaprakash Jaganathan
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