University of Twente Student Theses

Comparison of traditional Concrete Bridge and innovative 3D printed Steel Bridge : Determine overall life cycle properties of Concrete bridge and 3D printed Steel Bridge using a parametric calculation tool

Piscorschi, R. (2022) Comparison of traditional Concrete Bridge and innovative 3D printed Steel Bridge : Determine overall life cycle properties of Concrete bridge and 3D printed Steel Bridge using a parametric calculation tool.

PDF
32MB

Abstract:	The transportation infrastructure is a component of an essential value for developing societies since it promotes people’s transportation, trading, and well-being. A high-speed developing industry permanently generates new construction methodologies that outline the efficiency and effectiveness of currently used procedures. Given that, the infrastructure experts have to ensure the functional reliability of multiple components while simultaneously retaining reasonable costs and environmental impact levels throughout the entire structural elements’ life cycle. Therefore, considering the need to curb the costs and environmental impact, the infrastructure owners address the life cycle costs (LCC) and life cycle assessment (LCA) tools that assure the application of the best infrastructure alternative concerning multiple design requirements. Currently, most bridges are commonly built of steel or concrete. Nevertheless, 3D printing technology is emerging as an alternative construction procedure that aspires to become the future fundamental tool in the infrastructure industry. Several claims favor 3D printing technology concerning the possible benefits from financial, structural, and environmental perspectives. Despite this, a wide range of engineering uncertainties concerning deciding on design alternatives is generated, mainly suspecting the extent to which the benefits of the newly appeared construction procedures overthrow the existing techniques. Consequently, this dilemma results in an inherent need for a broad range of analyses to choose the most suitable alternative in line with input requirements. Thus, this research project compares the life cycle of 100 years for two structural alternatives, the traditionally built concrete bridge, and the 3D printed steel bridge. The research project’s objective is to develop a parametric LCC and LCA tool operating functional units of concrete and a 3D-printed steel bridge. It aims to ease the process for infrastructure owners to outline the best alternative regarding adjustable input parameters that influence the financial and environmental impact of different bridge design solutions. This results in classifying the life cycle components into ten adaptable classes affecting the total costs and energy use incurred throughout different life cycle phases: 1) Activity duration; 2) Activity distance; 3) Activity unit price; 4) Volume of structural components; 5) Numbers of workers required per activity; 6) Activity frequency; 7) Dimensions of structural elements; 8) Activity production; 9) Price of recycling components; 10) Discount factor. The postulated hypothesis was that the 3D printed bridge would inquire higher costs due to the price of the material, which was an inherent assumption given that the steel price is several times bigger than that of concrete. Additionally, concerning the environmental impact, it was assumed that the concrete bridge would retain a more substantial effect on multiple midpoints (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, 2018). This assumption was based on a low recycling ratio of 75%, which is essentially lower than that of the 3D-printed steel bridge that could be fully recycled. Consequently, based on the literature and experts’ knowledge, the LCC and LCA models were created, allowing for further inspection of the numerical results of the decisive factors of each functional unit. This inspection brought the following conclusion. The price of the 3D-printed steel bridge partially matched the initial assumption. Since steel is a more expensive material within the production phase of the bridge life cycle, the traditionally built concrete bridge was significantly cheaper. However, since the concrete is often subject to maintenance, the overall costs of the traditionally built concrete bridge were higher than the 3D printed bridge. The discount factor implication partially generated this unexpected outcome. Considering that the maintenance costs are distributed all over the bridge’s life cycle, costs in the future were substantially increased, which affected the final cost of the concrete bridge. The majority of adjustable input parameters have different sensitivity rates for both alternatives due to the different life cycle scenarios and construction materials. However, the discount factor and the number of engaged workers throughout the bridges’ life cycles were the most sensitive variables for both alternatives. Nevertheless, any similar variation of these parameters would not potentially influence the preferable design alternative choice.
Item Type:	Essay (Bachelor)
Faculty:	ET: Engineering Technology
Programme:	Civil Engineering BSc (56952)
Link to this item:	https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/93556
Export this item as:	BibTeX EndNote HTML Citation Reference Manager

Show download statistics for this publication

Repository Staff Only: item control page