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Manufacturing

Additive manufacturing

Cementitious Materials

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National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Additive Manufacturing (AM) studies the characteristics, material properties, and behaviors of cementitious materials to develop metrology tools and measurement standards for AM. If you are interested in collaboration opportunities, or want to learn more about our efforts in cementitious AM, please contact us. 

Learn about our cementitious AM work by exploring the content below. 
Projects | News | Publications

ACE
NIST studies cementitious materials for additive manufacturing, like the 3D printed cement structure pictured above. 

Projects

Click the plus icon (+) below to learn about our projects in cementitious additive manufacturing. 

Closeup view of a 3D printed concrete wall. Layers of zigzagging concrete build up to form a structure.
Layers of printed concrete build up to form a structure.
Credit: Adobe Stock

Additive Manufacturing with Cement-based Materials

Additive Manufacturing (AM) with concrete, also known as 3D Concrete Printing (3DCP) and more recently Additive Construction (AC) with concrete, is an emerging and rapidly evolving technology in the construction industry. This approach to concrete construction has the potential to change the way cementitious materials are used to create infrastructure components. Learn more.

Project Leader: Shawn Platt 

 

The Additive Construction by Extrusion (ACE) Consortium

The Additive Construction by Extrusion (ACE) Consortium supports efforts to establish the measurement science required for development of the standards and industry for additive construction by extrusion (ACE). Learn more.

Contact: Shawn Platt

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News

Click the plus icon (+) below to explore news about our cementitious additive manufacturing efforts. 

Spotlight: Shawn Platt and the Concrete Christmas Tree

Some people like plastic Christmas trees; others prefer real wood and needles. This year, NIST is printing a tree out of concrete. Read more.

🎵Oh concrete tree, Oh concrete tree🎵 How lovely are your layers!
🎵Oh concrete tree, Oh concrete tree🎵 How lovely are your layers!
This tree is not only festive; it’s also a test of the concrete printing process and the skill of NIST researchers. 3D-printed concrete is a new construction technique that could be used to make everything from park benches to entire houses. But there are no building codes or standards yet for 3D-printed concrete. NIST is doing the basic research to understand the strength of these materials. At 1.3 meters (4.5 feet), this is the tallest overhanging object ever printed at the lab. The scientists need to constantly tweak the concrete recipe to ensure it hardens fast enough to stay upright, yet slow enough to flow through the pumps and hoses of the printer. Now that the experiment is done, do you have any ideas on how we should decorate it?

Press Coverage

New Unit at NIST (USA)

We are thrilled to announce that XtreeE has successfully installed our cutting-edge 3D concrete printing system at the prestigious National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the United States of America! Read more.

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NIST AM publishes research in additive manufacturing of cementitious materials. View some of our publications here.

Manufacturing and Additive manufacturing

Contacts

Additive Manufacturing Program Coordinators

Created April 16, 2025, Updated April 21, 2025