Article:

This research paper presents a novel method for robotic spraying of glass-fibrereinforced concrete (GFRC) on a permeable reinforcement mesh. In this process,the mesh acts as a functional formwork during the concrete spraying process andas reinforcement once the concrete is cured, with the goal of producing slenderreinforced concrete elements efficiently. The proof of concept presented in thispaper takes inspiration from ``Ferrocement'' technique, developed in the 1940s byPier Luigi Nervi (Greco, 1994) and shows how robotic spraying has the potentialof producing such slender and bespoke reinforced concrete elements while alsohaving the potential of reducing manual labour, waste and excess material. Thesystem is coined with the name ``Robotic AeroCrete'' (or RAC) in reference to theuse of an industrial robotic setup and the pneumatic projection of concrete.