Manufacturing cement-based materials and building products via extrusion: from laboratory to factory

Manufacturing is critical to the economies of the UK and many other countries in the rest of the world. However, manufacturing of cement-based materials and building products predominantly remains based on old batch-processing techniques such as casting and pressing, and this may limit the applications and performance of the materials and products formed. This paper reports on research into transforming the manufacturing of precast cement-based materials and building products from in batches to continuous processes by way of extrusion. Techniques used for producing plastic products are transferred into manufacturing cement-based building products, such as flat and corrugated sheet tiles, downpipes, door and window frames, door panels, solid wall and facade panels, and honeycomb wall and facade panels, both at laboratory and factory scales. In combination with sustainable cementitious materials with low carbon dioxide emissions and low energy consumption as the matrix, this enables sustainable building products to be manufactured by way of extrusion.