Polymer Concrete

• Polymer concrete (PC)

– formed by aggregate and polymerizing a monomer (no other
bonding material)
• Latex modified concrete (LMC) (PMC)
– made by replacing a part of the mixing water with a latex
(polymer emulsion)
• Polymer-impregnated concrete (PIC)
– produced by impregnating a hardened Portland cement
concrete with a monomer and subsequently polymerizing the
monomer in situ

• Due to the high material cost and cumbersome production

technology, the use of polymer concrete is limited, except
for LMC which has been used extensively for repair and
rehabilitation of structures
 Factors Influencing Drying Shrinkage
• Time
– For a wide range of concrete mix proportions, aggregate types,
and environmental and loading conditions
• 20-25% of 20-year drying shrinkage occurs in 2 weeks
• 50-60% in 3 months
• 75-80% in 1 year

• Curing history (Troxell et al 1958)

– Longer moist curing reduce drying shrinkage
 Latex Modified Concrete
• Latex – a dispersion of polymer particles in water
– Generally contains ~50% by wt of spherical and very small
(0.01 to 1 µm in diameter) polymer particles held in
suspension in water by surface-active agents
– Specially formulated to be compatible with high alkaline
environment of concrete
• Type of latex
(Mindess et al 2003)
 Classification of polymers
• Thermoplastic polymers
– Composed of long chains produced by joining together monomers
– Typically behave in a plastic, flexible manner
– Soften when heated to high temperatures
– May be recycled
• Thermosetting polymers
– Composed of long chains of molecules that are strongly cross-
linked to one another to form 3-dimensional network structure
– Generally more rigid, stronger, but more brittle, than thermoplastics
– Do not have a fixed melting temperature and cannot easily be
reprocessed after the cross-linking reaction has occurred
• Elastomers
– Have an intermediate structure in which some cross-linking of the
chains occurs
– Have the ability to elastically deform by enormous amounts without
being permanently changed in shape
 Latex Modified Concrete
• Typical LMC contains 15-
20% polymer (solid basis)
by weight of cement

• The hardening takes place

by cement hydration, drying
or loss of water
– Short time moist curing
(<48 hrs)
– dry curing is mandatory
– polymer film coats the
cement hydration
products, capillary
pores, aggregate-paste
interface

(Mindess et al 2003)
 Mechanical Properties
• compressive strength comparable to Portland cement
concrete if cured properly
• better tensile strength than OPC concrete
(Mindess et al 2003)
 Mechanical Properties
• Lower E and higher strain at failure
• Greater nonlinearity of stress-strain curve

Polyvinyl
acetate

(Riley & Razl 1974)

• Good bonding with old concrete

• Low drying shrinkage and creep
 Mechanical Properties
• Loss of strength when LMC is immersed in water
– Adsorption of water by polymer film weaken the integrity
of the film

(Mindess et al 2003)
 Durability and Applications
• Good resistance to the penetration of water and
aggressive solutions
– Reduced w/c
– Polymer film lining capillary pores, ↓ permeability
– Reduced microcracking due to improved tensile strength

(Mindess et al 2003)
• Applications
– Overlay for bridge decks and parking decks
– Repair work
 Polymer Concrete (PC)
• Polymer concrete
– Examples of polymer used in PC
• polyester
• epoxy
• methyl methacrylate (MMA)
– Maximize aggregate content to reduce cost
• grading of the aggregate is important - dense packing
• Properties of polymer concrete
– Depend on the type and amount of the polymer used
– Typical mechanical properties (Table 11-14)
– High initial strength and elastic modulus
– Good chemical resistance, low permeability
– Rapid curing at ambient temperature from –18 to + 40 0C
• Applications: corrosive environment, industrial floors,
repair work, sewer pipes
 Fiber Reinforced Concrete (FRC)
• Geometry of fiber-reinforced materials

• Historical perspective
• BC horse hair
• 1900 Asbestos fibers
• 1960 FRC
• 1970 search for asbestos
replacement
• 1970 Steel FRC, glass FRC, etc
Fiber-Reinforced Concrete (FRC)

(Mindess et al 2003)
 Fiber-Reinforced Concrete
• Fiber reinforcement is not a substitute for conventional
steel reinforcement
– Reinforcing bars are used to increase the load-bearing capacity
of structural concrete members
– Fibers
• effective for crack control
• improve behavior of concrete under blast and impact
loading, in seismic applications
• ACI 544-3R-84 states
– In structural members where flexural and tensile loads will
occur, such as in beams, columns, suspended floors, the
conventional reinforcing steel must be capable of supporting
the total tensile load.
– In applications where the presence of continuous
reinforcement is not essential to the safety and integrity of the
structure, e.g. pavements, the improvements in flexural
strength can be used to reduce the section thickness
 Definitions of Some Terms
• Aspect ratio
= fiber length/equivalent fiber diameter
(equivalent D is the D of a circle having the same cross-sectional
area as the fiber)
– Typical aspect ratio: 50 – 150

• Orientation factor (or fiber efficiency factor)

– Efficiency with which randomly oriented fibers can carry a
tensile force in any one direction, ~0.2 to 1.0

• First crack strength

– Stress corresponding to the load at which the load-deflection
curve of the FRC first exhibits a significant non-linearity
 Critical length lc
• Length above which the fiber will Fiber pull out
fracture rather than pull out when
a crack intersects the fiber at its
mid point
lc = (σfu r) / τfu
where
σfu = ultimate fiber strength
r = fiber radius
τfu = max. frictional shear
stress

2πrlτ/2 ⇔ πr2 σ
lτ rσ
l τfu > r σfu, fiber fracture Fiber fracture
l τfu < r σfu, fiber pull out
(Mindess et al 2003)
 Fiber-Matrix Bond
• Water-filled porous spaces around fibers due to
– Bleeding of water around fibers
– Inefficient packing of ~10 µm cement particles in the zone out
to about 50 µm from the fiber surface

• How to increase the fiber-matrix bond?

– Reduce w/c, use silica fume

• Deforming fibers along their lengths or at

the end
 Mechanics of Fiber Reinforcement
• Principal role of fibers –
bridge across cracks

• Typical load-deflection curve

– A: matrix crack, first crack
strength
– FRC does not break
immediately after “A”, can
continue to sustain load after
that
• Failure takes place
primarily due to fiber pull-
out or debonding in FRC
• Increased toughness for
FRC (Mindess et al 2003)
 Mechanics of Fiber Reinforcement
• Stress field around an
advancing crack in FRC
– Traction-free zone:
crack is wide enough
for all the fibers to be
pulled out
– Fiber bridging zone:
stresses are transferred
by frictional slip of the
fibers
– Microcracked matrix
process zone:
aggregate interlocking
to transfer some stress
(Mindess et al 2003)
within the matrix itself
 Mix proportioning FRC
• General considerations
– Addition of fibers to plain concrete reduce workability
– Loss of workability is proportional to the volume of the fibers
– Aspect ratio of fibers also affect workability (curling up or
balling)
– Compromise in the selection of fibers and the design of FRC
mixtures
– In general, the steel fiber content in concrete is < 1% by vol. of
concrete with max. aspect ratio of 100 (polymer based fibers <
0.5%)
– Effect of max. aggregate size
• Recommend: max. aggregate size < 19 mm
– For the evaluation of workability of FRC, Vebe test
• Fiber content ↑, Vebe time ↑
• Fiber length (or L/D) ↑, Vebe time ↑
– Workability of FRC can be improved by air entrainment, SP,
higher cement content
 Properties of Fiber Reinforced Concrete
(RILEM TC 19 report, 1977)
• Strength and
toughness
– Modest strength
increase may occur

– Toughness and impact

resistance increased
even when low E fibers
such as nylon and
polypropylene have
been used

– The improvement in
strength and toughness
depends on volume and
type of fibers

(Balaguru & Shah 1992)

 Properties of Fiber Reinforced Concrete
• Elastic modulus, creep, and drying shrinkage
– Inclusion of fibers in concrete does not have significant
effect on E, drying shrinkage and compressive creep,
though they tend to reduce crack width during
shrinkage
– Fibers can reduce plastic shrinkage
– Tensile creep is reduced slightly

• Durability
– Steel fibers
• surface rust is inevitable
• but the fibers in the interior usually remain uncorroded
– Glass fibers
• can not be used in Portland cement mortars or concretes
due to chemical attack by alkaline cement paste
 Properties of Fiber Reinforced Concrete
• Impact resistance
– Increased dramatically by the addition of fibers
– Steel and carbon fibers are more effective than synthetic
fibers

• Fatigue strength
– Improved by the addition of fiber
• Plain concrete: after 2 million cycles of loading, flexural
fatigue strength = 55% of static strength
• Fiber reinforced concrete: fatigue strength = 65-90% static
strength, due to the inhibition of crack extension by fibers
 Applications of FRC
• Pavement, highway, and
airport applications
• Shotcrete for rock slope
stabilisation, tunnel
lining, structural repair
• For resistance to impact
and dynamic loading
• For reducing plastic
shrinkage
(polypropylene fibers)
• Prefabricated structural
members, thin sheets,
cladding members
Precast segments with SFRC used for
tunnel lining of Gold Coast Desalination
Plant at Tugun, Australia.