A concrete composition having an optimized formulation and suitable for 3-D printing is provided. The composition may include a hydraulic cement composition, aggregate, cement and/or aggregate by-product dust, one or more rheology modifiers, a plasticizer, fibers, and a sufficient amount of water to effect setting of the composition. Optionally the concrete composition may include a setting agent. A method for 3D printing multiple layers of the concrete composition is also provided.

Example embodiments provide systems and methods for formulating and evaluating a construction composition (such as a mixture for concrete, asphalt, mortar, etc.). According to exemplary embodiments, a predictive model, artificial intelligence, machine learning algorithm, etc., may be trained using historical performance data and current deployment information. Based on a job specification that identifies various requirements for the construction composition and a set of available inputs (e.g., raw materials, mixing techniques, etc.), the model, AI, or algorithm, may output one or more formulations that meet or best approximate the requirements. The formulations may be provided to a simulation to estimate or predict their performance. The performance characteristics of the output formulation(s) may be displayed. Optionally, the system may control mixing machinery to produce the formulation. Some embodiments may use these capabilities to evaluate an existing or proposed construction composition, rather than proposing a new construction composition.

Example embodiments provide systems and methods for performing quality control of a construction composition. According to exemplary embodiments, a predictive model, artificial intelligence, machine learning algorithm, etc., may be trained using historical performance data and current deployment information. Based on a job specification that identifies various requirements for the construction composition and a set of available inputs, the AI/ML/model may output one or more formulations that meet or best approximate the requirements, and an initial batch of the construction composition may be produced. During or after deployment of the construction composition, information about the composition's performance may be received and applied to the AI/ML/model. The system may make real-time updates to the construction composition to improve the consistency or performance of the construction composition, within predefined acceptable change parameters. Optionally, the system may control mixing machinery to produce the updated construction composition.

Methods, systems, and devices, are developed for in-situ placement of a concrete mix that can have the thixotropy to hold vertical dimension without containment, while maintaining pliability to be pumped into place and manipulated to a desired shape, and can be combined with concrete set accelerators, allowing subsequent layers of this concrete mix to be continuously stacked in place to build tall walls and such without the use of forms. Concrete without these special properties is pumped toward the point of placement where it is modified by injecting and mixing, into that line of pumped concrete, an admixture containing thixotropes, thickeners and/or set accelerators or other modifiers to provide these properties and other improvements. This method allows conventional plant batching with commonly available constituent materials for batching an economical concrete that is delivered to a jobsite and then is pumped most of the way to a point of placement.

A device and a process for the continuous application of a refractory slurry to a surface incorporate a batch reactor (10) for the controlled mixing of the slurry, a product vessel (60) in communication with the batch reactor (10) to contain the mixed slurry, and a variable-rate spraying applicator or nozzle in communication with the product vessel and with an air supply. A controller (100) controls input to, output from, and the operation of, the batch mixer (10), and monitors batch production. The controller (100) monitors the amount of slurry contained in the product vessel (60). If the level of slurry in the product hopper is such that the product hopper cannot accommodate an additional batch of slurry, the controller interrupts batch production and resumes production when the product hopper can accept the contents of the batch reactor (10).

Continuous method including mixing water and cementitous powder to form slurry; mixing the slurry and reinforcement fibers in a single pass horizontal continuous mixer to form fiber-slurry mixture, the mixer including an elongated mixing chamber having a reinforcement fiber inlet port, and upstream of the fiber inlet port is an inlet port to introduce water and cementitous powder together as one stream or at least two inlet ports to introduce water and dry cementitous powder separately as separate streams into the chamber, a rotating horizontal shaft/s within the chamber, part of the chamber for mixing the fibers and slurry and moving the fiber-slurry mixture to a mixture outlet; discharging the fiber-slurry mixture from the mixer outlet; forming and setting the fiber-slurry mixture on a moving surface; cutting the set mixture into fiber reinforced concrete panels and removing the panels from the moving surface.

A method in which a stream of dry cementitious powder passes through a first conduit and aqueous medium stream passes through a second conduit to feed a slurry mixer to make cementitious slurry. The cementitious slurry passes through a third conduit and a reinforcement fiber stream passes through a fourth conduit to feed a fiber-slurry mixer which mixes the slurry and discrete fibers to make a stream of fiber-slurry mixture. An apparatus for performing the method is also disclosed.

The disclosure provides a measurement set-up for a return cement suspension, a construction site arrangement with a measurement set-up, and a method which can be carried out inexpensively, reliably, and easily.

Methods and apparatus for controlling a characteristic of a cement slurry at a cementing unit, including regulating a characteristic of the cement slurry employing a closed loop feedback arrangement in the cementing unit, and adjusting a gain of the closed loop feedback arrangement in response to sampling an error of the characteristic.

A concrete mixer vehicle includes a mixer drum, an additive admixture system, and a controller. The additive admixture system includes an air inlet valve, a fluid valve, an air valve, and a pump. The controller is configured to operate the additive admixture system to transition the additive admixture system between an additive addition mode, a drain mode, and a system clear mode. The controller transitions the additive admixture system into the additive addition mode and operates the pump until a desired amount of an additive is added to the mixer drum, transitions the additive admixture system into the drain mode for a predetermined amount of time in response to the desired amount of additive being added to the mixer drum, and transitions the additive admixture system into the system clear mode for a predetermined amount of time to clear stagnant fluid or built up mixture from the additive admixture system.