Page 56 - Plastics News May 2024

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Costa Rica. Later that year it opened its “The most exciting part of the find- shredded plastic during a waterless
first US facility, in York, PA. It also has ings,” reported CRDC at the time, “was stage that eliminates odors. Next, it
launched a plant in Cape Town, South an improved bond strength between melts the resulting mixture during a
Africa. the layers of the printed concrete with heated extrusion stage that produces
the addition of RESIN8. This is particu- an inert, hybrid mineral polymer. Fi-
Study finds RESIN8 to be viable com-
ponent in 3D-printed concrete. larly significant in 3D printing, where nally, CRDC granulates the bulk RES-
cohesion between layers is paramount. IN8 material into the size, shape, and
Last October, Stellenbosch University The addition of RESIN8 also enhanced gradation required by specific concrete
in South Africa published a study fo- the fluidity of the mix, making it more mix designs.
cusing on RESIN8’s performance in manageable.”
3D-printed concrete (3DPC). Featured Independent bodies have tested the
in the Elsevier academic journal Con- The study did note that while the mix- material, and CRDC Global says it
struction and Building Materials, the es containing higher proportions of has been shown to demonstrate an
article spotlights the potential of RES- RESIN8 — up to 15% — met the es- increase in compression strength,
IN8 as a viable component for 3DPC. sential benchmarks for construction, flexibility, fire resistance, thermal
The research specifically evaluated a there was a noted trade-off in terms of resistance, and acoustic properties
RESIN8 mix enriched with elements structural strength. “The good news,” compared with traditional versions.
such as fly ash and a local variety of CRDC said, “was that all the mixes still Concrete applications using RESIN8
sand called Malmesbury sand. met the requisite benchmarks for con- exceed ASTM standards, and the com-
struction, cementing their potential in pany claims that the RESIN8 additive
University researchers experimented 3D-printing applications.” is the only material from plastic waste
with varying quantities and particle to actually improve the performance of
sizes of RESIN8 in the mix. After 3D Thomson explains that RESIN8 can structural concrete products and gain
printing, they rigorously tested these incorporate all types of discarded plas- acceptance from the construction in-
blends for strength, density, and other tics from industrial, municipal, and dustry.
essential properties. environmental waste streams. The
firm shreds the mixed (and often dirty) Source – Plastic Today
Additive improves bond strength of plastic waste and batches it according
printed concrete. to density. It then “pre-conditions” the

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