Lara Chern

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Major

Mechanical Engineering

Advisor(s)

Richard Kimball

Committee Members

William Gramlich, Jordan LaBouff, Yingchao Yang

Graduation Year

May 2023

Publication Date

2025

Abstract

This research presents the development of a novel composite material that will be functional in ocean-going devices and vessels. This thesis presents a desktop model of a novel reinforced concrete base automated manufacturing process. The scale model consists of a two-step process to autonomously create a rebar structure that would be used as reinforcement for a concrete part. In this process, the rebar is first bent into an appropriate shape by an existing automated wire bending machine which is then added to a three-dimensional (3D) printed mold. This part creates the mold for the rebar reinforced concrete part. In this process, the mold is printed simultaneously up to the point of rebar insertion. The rebar is then inserted by a robot from the bending machine and printing is continued. These steps are repeated until the mold is completed, upon which the concrete is added. The mold was printed successfully with the Rebar in Mold (RIM) process at bench-scale. In addition to the successfully printed bench-scale model, the design and demonstration of full-scale rebar bending is discussed to show feasibility as the process is scaled up to a commercial-scale system. A discussion of the impacts of this new commercial technology is also discussed, as well as its relevant applications. Automated, mass-producible reinforced concrete could revolutionize the world of construction as it is currently known.

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