Microcrack investigations of 3D printing concrete using multiple transformer networks

Abstract

Extrusion-filament and no-framework craft significantly influence microcracks in 3D printing concrete (3DPC). A detailed analysis of these microcracks is essential to improve overall performance of material. However, fast and automated methods for capturing and measuring representative microcrack information in 3DPC are currently lacking. This paper presents a transformer based method for automatic quantization of microcosmic information in 3DPC, enabling a comprehensive analysis of microcracks. Additionally, a transformer network to rapidly and cost-effectively obtain high-quality microscopic images is introduced. The proposed quantization method involves a range of enhancement tactics over an existing baseline model, demonstrating higher accuracy in detecting inner microcracks of 3DPC compared to current advanced algorithms. This method surpasses existing microscopic imaging technologies in terms of information content, computational speed, and cost-efficiency. Therefore, this method will have promising applications for analyzing other micro-details in concrete when it is supplemented with a diverse and extensive training dataset.