POLYMERIC CONCRETE WITH EPOXY RESIN AND RUBBER AS AGGREGATE

By

Erald KULLAU

Tirane, 5 July 2014

1
POLYMERIC CONCRETE WITH EPOXY RESIN AND RUBBER AS AGGREGATE

TERM PROJECT REPORT

Prepared by: Erald KULLAU

Bachelor in Civil Engineering

EPOKA University

Tirane, 5 July 2014

2
Table of Contents
Table of Figures ............................................................................................................................................ 4
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................................. 5
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................................ 6
Abstrakti ....................................................................................................................................................... 7
Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................................ 8
Declaration ................................................................................................................................................... 9
Approval Sheet ........................................................................................................................................... 10
Chapter 1 .................................................................................................................................................... 11
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 11
What is Concrete and the Role ........................................................................................................... 11
Why Admixtures in Concrete .............................................................................................................. 12
Cement Role on Concrete ................................................................................................................... 15

What is Polymeric Concrete and why is it so Usable .......................................................................... 17

Epoxy in Polymer-Modified Concrete as Adhesive ............................................................................. 19

Tire Waste Rubber Usage on the Preparation of the Concrete. .......................................................... 20

Chapter 2 .................................................................................................................................................... 24
Literature Review .................................................................................................................................... 24
Mechanical Characteristics Investigation of Polymer Concrete........................................................... 24

Self-Healing of Fiber Reinforced Composites ..................................................................................... 25

Chapter 3 .................................................................................................................................................... 26
Methodology ............................................................................................................................................ 26

Chapter 4 .................................................................................................................................................... 32

3
 Conclusions and Recommendations ....................................................................................................... 32
Conclusions........................................................................................................................................... 32

Recommendations ............................................................................................................................... 32
References ................................................................................................................................................. 33

Table of Figures
Gravel (10 mm) ................................................................................................................................... 27
Sand .................................................................................................................................................... 27
Rubber (1-2 mm)................................................................................................................................. 27

Portland Composite Cement CEM II 32-5R ......................................................................................... 27

Epoxy Resin UN 3082 .......................................................................................................................... 27

Concrete Mixer. ................................................................................................................................... 27

Slump Test ........................................................................................................................................... 28

Polymeric Concrete Specimens ........................................................................................................... 29

Control Specimen Compression Test................................................................................................... 29

Epoxy Specimen Compression Test ..................................................................................................... 29

Rubber Specimen Compression Test ................................................................................................... 30
Epoxy & Rubber Specimen Compression Test ..................................................................................... 30

4
List of Tables
Classification of main cements according to European Standard ENV 197-1: 1992 .......................... 16
Main Types of Portland Cement according to ASTM .......................................................................... 17
Compositions of car and truck tires .................................................................................................... 23

Physical properties of different aggregates ........................................................................................ 23

Specimens Compression Test Results ................................................................................................. 30

Control Compression Test Diagram ..................................................................................................... 30

Epoxy Compression Test Diagram ....................................................................................................... 30

Rubber Compression Test Diagram ..................................................................................................... 31

Epoxy & Rubber Compression Test Diagram ....................................................................................... 31
Average of Eight Specimens of Concrete............................................................................................. 31
Percentage Between Control & Specimens......................................................................................... 31

5
 ABSTRACT

This paper has to do with the preparation of the polymeric concrete with epoxy resin and rubber as

aggregate; it has taken place at the EPOKA University laboratory between dates 01/07/2014-

04/07/2014, and it is about the estimation of the compression of the polymeric concrete with its

ingredients as listed above.

6
 ABSTRAKTI

Ky kerkim ka te beje me pergatitjen e betonit polimer me permbajtje epoxy dhe gome si perberes,

eshte zhvilluar ne ambientet e laboratorit te Universitetit EPOKA ne datat 01/07/2014-04/07/2014, dhe

flet per berjen e testit te kompresimit per betonin polimer sebashku me permbajtjet e tij.

7
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank Dr. Erion LUGA for his assistance and support during all the days of the work. I

thank him for being so persuasive that I finish my work within the days, and also for its advices that

helped me a lot for the preparation of this work.

Also I want to thank even my class of 2014 civil engineering, for being part of such a marvelous persons,

in special I want to thank three of my friends, Alban PAJA, Marsed LETI, and Faton RAMADANI, for their

support during all these days.

Special thank goes to the professors of the EPOKA University for their unstoppable work every day.

Erald KULLAU

8
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this project is based to my original work except for quotations and citations which

have been duly acknowledged.

Erald KULLAU

Date: 5 July 2014

9
 APPROVAL SHEET

I certify that Examination Committee has met on date of viva to conduct the final examination of Erald

KULLAU on his Bachelor in Civil Engineering Term Project entitled Polymer Concrete with Epoxy Resin

and Rubber as Aggregate.

Members of the Examination Committee are as follows:

Chairman, PhD

Erion LUGA

Faculty of Architecture and Engineering

Epoka University

Examiner 1, PhD

Erion LUGA

Faculty of Architecture and Engineering

Epoka University

Date: 5 July 2014

10
 CHAPTER 1

Introduction

1.1 What is Concrete and the Role?

Concrete is the most widely used construction material in the world wide construction industry. There

are a lot of reasons why concrete are the most used in construction industry, we can say for its technical

properties, economic and versatile uses. Concrete and its mixtures are easily found in the world wide, in

every part of the world you may find the mixtures that are needed for the concrete, it can be easily

shaped when it is fresh and it can be given the desired and calculated shape, when it hardens it becomes

stone-like and it takes the desired and calculated characteristics, it has minimal maintenance

requirements during it service life, and it has innumerable uses in the structures in differing climates,

places, and various circumstances where it is subjected. Workability, rate of hydration, heat, setting

time, rate of strength, ultimate strength and durability are the most important characteristics for the

fresh and the hardened concrete. We can achieve the desired quality for fresh and hardened concrete

within the economically through proper selection of basic concrete making materials, proper

proportioning of the ingredients and proper application of procedures in mixing, placing, compacting

and curing it. Except all of these there may be instances when some special properties such as lower

heat of hydration, acceleration of strength gain, extended or reducing time or increased resistance to

alkali-aggregate reaction are required. In sometimes we may arrive to conclusion that it is more

practicable and economical to achieve the such desired objectives by adding one or more extra

materials to the basic concrete making materials during the process of concrete mixing, but all of these

depend on our judge and the requirements that the circumstances where we will apply the concrete

require. In many other circumstances when very high concrete strength or resistance due to freezing or

11
thawing it required, the only feasible means of achieving the desired objectives may be by the use of

proper mix of admixtures in the concrete.

What is an admixture? According to ASTM C 125 [1] And ACI SP-19 [2], an admixture for the concrete is

defined as a material other than water, aggregates and hydraulic cement which is an ingredient for the

concrete and is added immediately before or during mixing of concrete. Use of proper admixtures can

improve almost all the properties of fresh and hardened concrete, but it should be recognized that an

admixture is not remedy for poor mix design or bad concrete practice, many admixtures affect more

than one property of the concrete and their affects may depend on several factors such as the type and

the amount of the cement in the concrete. Therefore, an admixture should be employed after

appropriate technical evaluation of its effects, preferably by the use with the particular materials and

conditions of use. (Turhan Y. Erdogan) [3]

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1.2 Why Admixtures in concrete?

According to ASTM C 219 [4], a material that is underground or blended in limited amounts into a

hydraulic cement during manufacture either as a processing addition to aid in manufacturating and

handling the cement or as a functional addition to modify the properties of the finished product is

defined as an addition, rather than an admixture. Thus, the materials interground with the Portland

cement clinker in producing air-entraining cements are termed additions. Admixtures can produce

numerous beneficial effects on the performance of the fresh and hardened concrete and on the

handling or consolidation of fresh concrete. Some facts and precautions should be taken into

considerate in order to successfully attain the intended result and to avoid the unnecessary surprises,

these considerations and precautions we can list as follow:

1. An admixture should be realized that is not remedy for poor mix design and bad concrete, it

should be known that no admixture of any type or amount can be considered as a substitute for

good mix design or proper concrete.

2. Admixtures should be in conforming to ASTM, EuroCODE and other specifications that are taken

into consideration. There are many admixtures that are derived from different type of

industries and are composed of different complex mixtures of compounds that may not be well

characterized as it is required for the performed work that will be taken. For this reason, while

we are prepared for the mixing of concrete and the adding of admixtures that are required for

the specified work, the determination of the exact chemical composition of it, it is not

something that should be passed, but it should be taken into consideration and also it should be

taken references from ASTM, EuroCODE and the other specifications. There are some reasons

why the admixtures are tested, well show some of the as follow [5]: a) to determine compliance

with a purchase specification, b) to evaluate the effect of the admixture on the properties of the

13
 concrete to be made with job materials under the anticipated ambient conditions and

construction procedures, c) to determine within lot uniformity of product, d) to provide data

showing that any lot is the same as those previously sampled. When are required by the

contract or specifications there should be made laboratory tests according to ASTM, EuroCODE

or other specifications if they meet those specifications before they get applied.

3. Admixtures affect the properties of concrete, not only one property, but more. When we want

to provide a desirable effect on e certain general major properties of concrete, the same

admixture that we want to add might have to sides on the desired concrete properties the

desirable and the undesirable effect. Thats why the effects that an admixture may have on

other properties of the concrete should be taken into consideration before we apply it, even

more should be taken into consideration if the effects that the required admixture have are

undesirable.

4. There should be taken reliable procedures for accurate batching of the admixture. If we say the

establishment of a batching procedure is particularly important where we take into

consideration the typical dosage of some admixtures such as chemical admixtures, may be well

below 0.1% by weight of cement. If we use overdose of such admixtures may lead to

undesirable results.

5. If we will take a look from the technical properties, we will see that an admixture should be

employed only after appropriate technical evaluation of the effects it has on concrete, and what

is preferable is the particularity and the conditions that are used as it is intended. It also should

be noticed the precise effect that an admixture has and it will depend on many factors such as

[6]: a) composition of cement, b) amount of cement used in the concrete mixture, c) grading

and other characteristics of aggregates including the presence of impurities, d) presence of

14
 other admixtures, e) mixture proportions, f) type and length of mixing, g) procedure followed in

introducing the mixture into the mix, h) concrete temperature and i) curing conditions.

6. Admixture besides evaluating of the technical effects on concrete there are also the economical

aspects that should be taken into consideration that also have a significant role on the

preparation of the desired concrete with its calculated specifications. There are also a lot of

other cases that even if the economical aspects, in those cases there is nothing that can be done

when the admixture that it is required it is important for the continuation of the project,

because some additional features are in great importance and nothing else can be done beside

all the aspects that we should take into consideration.

15
1.3 Cement Role on Concrete.

Cement is one of the most important ingredients on the preparation of the concrete. It has its beneficial

parts, but also it has the negative parts also. In the beneficial part we may say the role that it has in the

durability of the concrete, and the mechanical properties of the hardened concrete as ii its strength,

shrinkage, permeability, resistance to the weathering, and creep. In the negative part we may say that it

is ecologically harmful, from one tone of cement it results about one tone of CO2 released in the nature.

Cement in the 20th until the 1990 it was known to be a composition of only Portland cement, because it

was believed on its pureness, but the things changed after 1991, because as it is mentioned above the

Portland cement it was ecologically harmful, and also it was not very economical and it needed some

processing before using it for mixing with other parts of the concrete such as water and aggregates.

Cement it is not only Portland cement, but it has also some other compositions it was named as blended

cement this was close with that, that ASTM uses, ASTM 1157-94a [7]. Thats why the cement has it

Classes in the EuroCODE and its four types at the ASTM Standards. The EuroCODE uses the ones shown

in Table 1.1[8], and the ASTM uses the ones shown in the Table 1.2 [9].

16
Type Designation Mass as Percentage of mass of
cementitious materials up to 5%

Portland Pozzolana Silica ggbs*

cement or fly ash fume
clinker

I Portland 95--100 -- -- --
II/A 80--94 -- -- 6--20
II/B Potland Slag 65--79 -- -- 21--35
II/A Portland pozzolana 80--94 6 -- 20 -- --
II/B or Portland fly ash 65--79 21--35 -- --
II/A Portland silica fume 90--94 -- 6--10 --
II/A Portland 80--94 6--20 6--20 --
II/B composite 65--79 21--35 21--35 --
III/A 35--64 -- -- 36--65
III/B Blastfurnace 20--34 -- -- 66--80
III/C 5--19 -- -- 81--95
IV/A 65--89 11--35 11--35 --
IV/B Pozzolanic 45--64 36--55 36--55 --
*ggbs = ground granulated blastfurnace slag

Table 1.1 Classification of main cements according to European Standard ENV 197-1: 1992

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Traditional British description ASTM description

Ordinary Portland Type I

Rapid hardening Portland Type III

Extra rapid-hardening Portland

Ultra high early strength Portland

Low heat Portland Type IV

Modified cement Type II

Sulfate-resisting Portland Type V

Portland blastfurnace Type I S

White Portland Type I (SM)

Portland-pozzolana Type I P

Slag cement Type S

Table 1.2 Main Types of Portland Cement according to ASTM

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1.4 What is Polymeric Concrete and why it is so Usable?

In the last years the application of the Polymer Concrete has been significantly grown up in the daily

usage for the preparation of the concrete. There are different dates for the usage of these new coming

concrete, if we would take a look in the historical notes, well see that the first time that this concrete

entered the industry of construction is 1950, when firstly it wasnt named as polymeric concrete, but as

Polymer Modified Concrete (PMC) and only in the 1970s, after the Polymer-Impregnated Concrete was

developed the Polymeric Concrete (PC) materials were received fairly in the entrance to the

construction industry [10]. As the engineer from India Aggrawal says: after this new entering was

coming into at the industry the domain of usage of this concrete was extended in time, from the pre-

cast components for buildings, bridges panel, waste components, transportation components, to repair

the structural members, anticorrosive, decorative finishes and waterproofing, etc [11]. The reason why

this type of concrete immediately after he entered the concrete industry to have a big growth in

comparison with the Portland cement is: quick setting characteristics, chemical resistance, high

mechanical strength, wear resistance [12]. Polymeric concrete in its composition it doesnt differs much

with the traditional concrete, in its composition we find: aggregates and the binder, which in the

polymeric concrete has a role which reacts with a hardener that is another material and it binds

together with the aggregates. Fowler has reported different types, properties and applications of the

polymeric concrete [11]. If we would take into consideration the performance of the polymeric concrete

well see that its performance it depends on the polymer binder, type of the filler and the aggregates,

and its mechanical properties and the curing behavior depends on the selection and the content of the

polymer, aggregate, temperature and the dosage. Important filler that plays a significant role on the

mechanical properties of the polymeric concrete is the Silica Fume. Except to all this good things that

the polymeric concrete has, in the civil engineering a significant role also it plays the economical part,

19
which we can say the polymeric concrete it isnt so much cheaper, so it needs a lot of money to apply it

in a construction, but this it hasnt done the engineers pessimist, because they have found a way to use

the polymeric concrete with a less expense. The thing that they have done, they have studied the

polymeric concrete by reducing the polymer dosage in the mix, without diminishing the properties that

characterizes it. They used a limited dosage for the mix of the polymeric concrete that varied from 12.4-

18.8% of the polymer. The polymeric concrete mixes were determined on the basis of mixture design of

experiment and based on statistical analysis properties such as compressive strength, splitting tensile

strength, flexural strength and adhesion stress. Each individual response, such as compressive strength,

can be predicted by the regression equation [13, 14].

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1.5 Epoxy in Polymer-Modified Concrete as Adhesive

Polymer-modified concrete (PMC) that we explained above was as the result of adding higher

molecular-weight polymers to concrete batch designs for the purposes low permeability, low drying

shrinkage, improved adhesion, improved tensile strength, greater chemical resistance, or accelerated

cure. For the preparation of the polymer concrete are used different chemical and physical forms such

as latex, acrylic and epoxy additives are the ones that are most commonly used. They are found as

powder or liquid forms of resins, monomers and even emulsions, and they wide usage in the

construction industry such as mortars for flooring, bridge decks overlays, anticorrosive coatings, ship

decks, repair and even as adhesives with concrete. Improvements over the properties of normal

concrete or mortar depend on the polymer phase formation and the cement hydration forming an

interpenetrating network structure of polymer and hydrated cement phases. The resulting monolithic

matrix exhibits properties beyond either isolated phase material. Initially, the mixing process disperses

the admixture into the fresh concrete matrix. As hydration begins and free water is lost, membrane

strands of polymer begin forming either through water loss or independent polymerization. These

membranes adhere to major portions of the hydrating cement particle surfaces. Changes in hardened

concrete properties are important to anticipate. Prevention of penetration of water and dissolved salts

into concrete is to apply a surface sealer after the concrete has hardened. A 1981 study [15] investigated

22 materials used for this purpose. A screening test, amounting to nothing more than immersion of 4-in

(102.8-mm) concrete cubes in salt water for three weeks, was used to determine which of these

appeared to have merit. Five were outstanding. These were tested further by subjecting them to

wetting and drying and either freezing and thawing cycles or extremely severe exposure to ultraviolet

light. This testing eliminated two materials, leaving a Silane, an epoxy, and a methyl methacrylate as the

best performers. Shrinkage is dependent on the batch design and the choice and amount of polymer

modifier. Some PMCs exhibit the same or less shrinkage, and some exhibit more than expected from

21
normal concrete. Creep properties epoxy-modified concrete may be higher, depending on the polymer

loading in the matrix. Significant increases in tensile strength, flexural strength, and bond strength may

be expected, compressive strengths do not necessarily increase. Cured PMC typically exhibits lower

water absorption and water or water vapor permeability due to larger pores being filled with polymer

however, some polymers can re-emulsify, which may reduce the strength of the matrix at least near the

surface when it is saturated with water over time? Epoxy-modified concretes are more suitable for

constantly wet conditions [16]. Polymer-modified concrete strengths are normally better than for

conventional concrete with similar water/cement ratios at ambient temperatures below 100F. Due to

marked decreases in the polymers modulus at polymer-specific glass transition temperatures (Tgs),

usually somewhere between 100 and 120F, the strength differences may decrease in service

temperatures at or above this range. Abrasion resistance, frost resistance, chemical resistance, and

bond to concrete or steel substrates are normally better in PMC than unmodified concrete. Epoxy-

modified concrete typically has a polymer/cement ratio of 20% for water-reducible resins and more

than 30% for others (even more than 50% for some resins [17]. This makes epoxy modified concretes

more expensive than latex-modified concretes, but all strengths are typically higher, including

compressive strength, and these systems can be cured in water, whereas latex-modified concrete

usually must be allowed to dry after 48 hours of moist curing.

22
1.6 Tire Waste Rubber Usage on the Preparation of the Concrete.

Rubber tires all around of the world are being buried in the landfills in different ways because those

have a poor degradation and for this in the landfills tires get piled on the landfills [18]. Why to pile them

in the landfills where we can use them on the preparation of the polymeric concrete, and it is more

economical and cheaper, on the other hand there is a huge number of tires accumulated on the world, if

we see the statistics we will see that in USA there are 275 million [19] and in Europe it arrives at a

number of 180 million tires each-year [20]. All these tires all around the world if they get piled on the

landfills they may serve as breeding ground for mosquitoes, and as it may be known mosquitoes play a

role on the spreading of different diseases, and it creates a dangerous hazard for the community living

near there [21]. The industry to reduce the number of the used tires are using those in different

manners for the good of the community, here we may mention the usage of tire wastes in the fuel,

bitumen pastes, pigment soot, roof and floor covers, etc [20, 22, 23]. One other part that will use the

waste of tires is even the rubberized concrete that will be use by the construction industry. The reason

that the construction industry has chosen to use the waste tires is because the granulated rubber

crumbs can replace the fine aggregates that are used on the preparation of the concrete and this brings

it to be cheaper. To make these granulated tire wastes an aggregate in the size of a fine rounded as

sand, these tire wastes should pass through a process called continuous shredding. The preparation of

such kind of concrete after the granulated tire wastes have passed through the continuous shredding

process and are ready to be used, have a lot of fields where this kind of concrete may take place, such as

the manufacture of reinforced pavement and bridge structures, because in these structures it occurs

frost and ice thawing more then in other structures, and the tires waste aggregates have better

resistance to frost and ice thawing salts [21]. The replacement of aggregates with granulated rubber

waste deteriorates mechanical properties of concrete [22 - 25]. After we modify the concrete with the

23
tire waste aggregates we see that the compressive strength of the concrete it occurs a decrease, this is

because the rubber are more elastic and softer that the sands ones [18, 22 25]. Another reason why

the compressive strength of the concrete undergoes a decrease is because of the low compressive

strength of the crumbed rubber particles in comparison with the strength of the concrete aggregates

[26, 27]. The other properties that affect the strength of the concrete as they are separated by Ganjiani

[28]:

1. Shredded or chipped rubber is used to replace gravel. By shredding the rubber pieces, particles about

1376 mm big are produced.

2. Crumb rubber is used to replace sand with size range 0.4254.75 mm and is manufactured by using

special mills. The size of rubber particles depends on the type of mill used and the generated

temperature.

3. Ground rubber can be used as a filler material to replace cement.

As are separated above those affect on the proportion in concrete mix, size, and surface texture of the

rubber particles which have a chemical formula [C: carbon H: hydrogen O: oxygen; n: nos. of monomers]

[28]. Ganjiani used two types of tire in its laboratory experiments, when he replaced the natural

aggregates of the concrete with the tire waste aggregates, after the experiments he found that the

strength of the concrete with rubber aggregates had a low value in comparison with that of the natural

aggregates and this was due to the fact that the tire waste aggregates were poor on the proper bonding

with the cement paste, where in fact the natural aggregates has a good bonding with the cement paste

[28]. This phenomenon happens due to the fact the rubber has an organic nature, which doesnt have

any interaction with the cement paste. Another engineer Khaloo on its researches, used two types of

tire waste rubber as particles in the concrete preparation and he found that the crumb rubber tire that

had a fine grading which was close to the grading of the sand was a fine material for the preparation of

concrete, and the other type that he said that it is a fine material in the preparation of the concrete is

24
even the coarse chip tire which is produce by mechanical shredding and it may be used as a coarse

aggregate [29]. Down are the tables that show the work that these two engineers have done.

Constituents Content in Car Truck

Natural rubber 14 27
Synthetic rubber 27 14
Black carbon 28 28
Fabric, filler accelerators, anti-assonants 1617 1617
Steel 1415 1415

Table 2.1 Compositions of car and truck tires [28]

Aggregate type Specific gravity Water absorption (%) Fineness modulus Unit weight (kg/m3)

Natural coarse aggregate 2.65 2.66 NA 1,701.3

Natural fine aggregate 2.67 5.01 5.34 1,716.8

Tire rubber aggregate 1.16 NA NA 1,150

Table 2.2 Physical properties of different aggregates [29]

25
 CHAPTER 2

Literature Review

2.1 Mechanical Characteristics Investigation of Polymer Concrete

Polymeric concrete is the case of study of the last times, a lot of studies and papers have been written. A

lot of persons have been writing about the polymeric concrete, like Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP), Self

Healing FRP or polymer concrete with epoxy and rubber as aggregate or even the NSM (Near-surface-

mounted) FRP etc. A case of study may be even the mechanical characteristics investigation of polymer

concrete using mixture design of experiments and response surface method, which has to do with the

using of a statistical investigation to analyze data from experiments mixture design and involves

regression models to determine the response surface of polymer concrete, the materials used for the

preparation of these study for the polymer concrete using the method of response surface are epoxy

resin, Silica Fume (SUF) and other aggregates. In many research disciplines frequently involves blending

two or more ingredients together, and the design factors are the proportions of components of the

blended ingredients and the response variables that varies as a function of the proportions that makes

the total and not equal quality of each component [30, 31]. Proportions of the components of a mixture

experiment doesnt vary on a factorial constraint because they have a value between (1-100%), and such

a constraint on the proportion of the components it complicates the design and the analysis of the

experiment mixture [32].

26
2.2 Self-Healing of Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites

Fiber-reinforced polymer matrix composite is a self-healing composite material used in construction

industry. A study with three major categories it has been taken place, which in the initial part, it had to

do with a single fiber polymer matrix self-healing composite system which has been developed and

analyzed. In the other stage of the study, multiple commercial glass fibers are used as a reinforcing

material in the self-healing system. These were the first two stages which in general had to do with the

fibers used as a reinforced self-healing material, the third and the final stage had to do with the

inclusion of the functionalized carbon nano-tubes in the healing medium. A releasable healing agent

contained in a hollow fiber which has been embedded in a resin system it has been utilized in the self-

healing approach, which hade specimens produced by using a hollow glass fiber and epoxy resin. E-glass

fibers are incorporates in the composite of the matrix in the case of multiple fibers test. A liquid healing

agent it is used in case of a crack which propagates through the composite by breaking the hollow fiber

and it fills the gap of the crack. Polymerization of the monomer healing agent is facilitated when it

contacts a catalyst that is pre-coated on the outside surface of the hollow glass fiber [33].

27
 CHAPTER 3

Methodology

My work consists in the preparation of the polymeric concrete with epoxy resin and rubber. My

experimental work it got separated into two parts, the first one had to do with the preparation of the

samples of the concrete which took place on 01/07/2014 on the universities laboratory and second part

of the work has to do with the applying of the compression test of the samples of the polymeric

concrete, which took place on 04/07/2014 even these one at the universities laboratory. We firstly

separated the phases of the work, which in the first we prepared the ingredients for two samples of the

normal concrete (control specimen), which had 11 kg of coarse aggregate with diameter 10 mm, 8 kg of

sand, 3 kg of cement and 1.8 l of water (H2O), and then we added all the ingredients in the mixer and

after finished mixing the ingredients we applied the slump test, which had no slump. Secondly we did

two samples with rubber, which had 11kg of coarse aggregate with diameter 10 mm, 8 kg of sand, 3 kg

of cement, 1.8 l of water (H2O), and 300g of rubber with a diameter of 1-2 mm, after adding all the

ingredients on the mixer and after we finished mixing we applied the slump test, which had no slump.

Thirdly we did two samples with epoxy resin, which had 11 kg of coarse aggregate with diameter 10 mm,

8 kg of sand, 3 kg of cement, 1.8 l of water (H2O), and 100 g of epoxy resin, after we added the

ingredients on the mixer and after mixing with the mixer we did the slump test, which had no slump.

Finally we did two samples of the concrete with epoxy resin and rubber, which had 11 kg of coarse

aggregate with diameter 10 mm, 8 kg of sand, 3 kg of cement, 1.8 l of water (H2O), 100 g of epoxy resin

and 300 g of rubber with diameter 1-2 mm, after adding all of the ingredients we mixed them and after

finishing mixing the concrete we did the slump test, in which we didnt had slump.

Materials that we used are listed as below with its figures.

28
Fig. 3.1 Gravel (10 mm) Fig. 3.2 Sand

Fig. 3.3 Rubber (1-2 mm) Fig. 3.4 Portland Composite Cement CEM II 32-5R

Fig. 3.5 Epoxy Resin UN 3082 Fig. 3.6 Concrete Mixer

29
Fig. 3.7 Slump Test

The second part of the experiment took place on the 04/07/2014 at the universities laboratory, at this

part of the experiment we did the compression test of the specimens that we did the other day. We had

eight specimens with concrete composites. We had two samples with normal concrete, two with rubber,

two with epoxy, and two of them with epoxy and rubber. At the compression test machinery we

measured the eight of them, and we got the listed results as below:

1. Normal Concrete with two specimens we saw that the stress of these concrete were, the first

specimen had a stress of (170.9 KN/ 150*150mm)=7.59MPa, the second specimen had a stress

of (195.6 KN/150*150mm) =8.69MPa and both of them have an average of

(7.59+8.69)/2=8.14MPa.

2. Epoxy with two specimens had a stress as shown, the first specimen had a stress of

(179.1 KN/ 150*150mm) =7.96MPa, the second specimen had a stress of

(147.8 KN/ 150*140mm)=7.04MPa and both of them have an average of(7.96+7.04)/2=7.5MPa.

3. Rubber with two specimens had a stress as shown, the first specimen had a stress of

(113.1 KN/ 150*120)= 7.76 MPa, the second specimen had a stress of

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 (139.6 KN/ 150*150mm)=6.21MPa and both of them have an average of

(7.76+6.21)/2=6.98MPa.

4. Epoxy and Rubber with two specimens had a stress as shown, the first specimen had a stress of

(156.9 KN/ 150*150mm)=6.97MPa, the second specimen had a stress of

(159.0/150*150mm)=7.07MPa, and both of them have an average of (6.97+7.07)/2=7.02MPa

Fig. 3.8 Polymeric Concrete Specimens

Fig. 3.9 Control Specimen Compression Test Fig. 3.10 Epoxy Specimen Compression Test

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Fig. 3.11 Rubber Specimen Compression Test Fig. 3.12 Rubber & Epoxy Specimen Compression Test

Nr Stress (KN) Area (mm) Compressive (MPa) AVG % Difference

1 170.9 150*150 7.59
Control 2 195.6 150*150 8.69 8.14
1 179.1 150*150 7.96
Epoxy 2 147.8 150*140 7.04 7.5 7.86
1 113.1 150*120 7.76
Rubber 2 139.6 150*150 6.21 6.98 14.25
1 156.9 150*150 6.97
Epoxy & Rubber 2 159 150*150 7.07 7.02 13.76

Table 3.1 Specimens Compression Test Results

Table 3.2 Control Compression Test Diagram Table 3.3 Epoxy Compression Test Diagram

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Table 3.4 Rubber Compression Test Diagram Table 3.5 Epoxy & Rubber Compression Test Diagram

Table 3.6 Average of Eight Specimens of Concrete Table 3.7 Percentage Between Control & Specimens

As it is shown on the Table 3.1 we have a difference in the stress between the control specimen and the

epoxy of 7.86%, and the rubber it has 10.38%, and the last one epoxy resin with rubber have a

percentage of 13.76%. Table 3.6 shows us the average of all specimens according to control specimen,

which as it is seen from the table it has a bigger average then the other three specimens of epoxy resin,

rubber, and epoxy resin with rubber together. We see that rubber has a smaller average then the other

ones, even if we see the table 3.7 the percentage between the control specimen and the other three

33
ones. As it is seen epoxy resin has a smaller percentage then the other two specimens between them

and the control specimens, this one shows that the epoxy resin have a smaller influence in the

hardening of the concrete also this hardening affected even the stress between the control specimens

and the other specimens, this is for the reason that the epoxy resin it didnt had the desired time to get

the full strength, because it was left only for three days for the concrete to get hardened, not seven or

twenty eight as it is the standard. For these reasons we see that the epoxy resin it wasnt in the

predesigned form for the experiment.

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 CHAPTER 4

Conclusions and Recommendations

4.1 Conclusion

This paper has to do with the preparation of the polymeric concrete with epoxy and rubber. In conclude

we may say, even that the polymeric concrete it is a widely used and a lot of experiments have been

done about it, it may also a lot of other ones be made for this type of concrete, because of the fact that

polymeric concrete if it has its proper ingredients in the proper mass, it may be much cheaper than the

normal concrete, also polymeric concrete may be used in different weather, geological conditions that

with normal concrete we couldnt do nothing on the place that we have wanted to construct something.

From the results shown from the specimens we see that we have a less percentage between the control

specimens stress with the other ingredients of epoxy and rubber as a part and epoxy and rubber as one,

so this one it says to us that the epoxy with the rubber are two of ingredients that first of all are cheap,

but they connect very well with the cement paste and form the polymeric concrete in the way of our

design.

4.2 Recommendations

For future experiment in the preparation of the polymeric concrete with epoxy resin and rubber, some

recommendations it may be taken into consideration.

1. The specimens should be left for 7 or 28 days, before they get on the compression test machine

for testing, it will be better if you do two test one in the end of 7th day and the other on 28th day,

to have a precise result on the compression of concrete.

2. Try to have different specimens with different percentage of rubber and epoxy in the

preparation of the concrete.

35
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