4th RILEM International Conference on Concrete and Digital Fabrication
Digital Concrete 2024
3–6 September 2024
The biennial international conference on 3D concrete printing technology was held this year in Munich, Germany. The event takes place under the auspices of the International Union of Laboratories and Experts in Construction Materials, Systems and Structures (RILEM) and is hosted in rotation by countries where research and development in 3D concrete printing is most advanced.
The tradition began in 2018 in Zurich, followed by the 2020 conference in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, which was held partially virtually, then in 2022 at Loughborough University, UK, and this time organized jointly by the Technical University of Munich and the Technical University of Braunschweig.
The number of participants has steadily increased each year. This year, more than 224 researchers and doctoral students from universities around the world took part in the conference, representing nearly 50 countries across all continents—including Estonia, for the second time.
The conference program was divided into 15 thematic sessions, covering topics from material properties and technological developments to circular economy and sustainability challenges.
Tallinn University of Applied Sciences (TTK) was represented by Aivars Alt, Jaagup Ainsalu, and Hillar Joon, who also presented in the Mixture Proportion session. His presentation, titled “Influence of Illitic Calcined Clay on Properties of Mixtures for 3D Concrete Printing,” summarized recent research on the use of calcined clay as a partial replacement for Portland cement in 3D printing binders. The co-author of the presentation was Lauri Peetrimägi.
In addition to sharing research and gaining new contacts, participation in the conference had another purpose: it provided an opportunity for members of the newly launched international Twinning project to meet in person. The project team includes Prof. Viktor Mechtcherine and Shravan Muthukrishnan from TU Dresden, and Lauri Hass and Karsten Nefs from Eindhoven University of Technology, together with the Estonian team members.