Abstract
This research deals with the durability of micropolymer concrete (MPC) obtained by mixing an epoxy resin with fine and coarse sand particles. In particular the resistance of the micropolymer concrete to chemical solutions (citric acid C6H8O7, sulfuric acid H2SO4, and hydrochloric acid HCl) is investigated and compared to this of Portland cement microconcrete. Two MPC are tested. The first is formulated with 9% mass fraction of epoxy polymer whereas calcareous fillers have been incorporated in the second formulation in order to reduce the percentage of the epoxy binder. It is shown that a microconcrete designed with 7% of epoxy, 10% of fillers, and 83% of aggregates is characterized by higher physical and mechanical properties than those of the MPC formulated with 9% of epoxy binder. The mechanical properties of the resulting materials after their exposure to the three selected acid solutions at different durations were studied through compressive, three points bending and ultrasonic wave propagation tests. The obtained results are compared to those of microcement concretes (MCC) tested under the same conditions as MPC. The results show that both microepoxy polymer concretes exhibit better mechanical properties and highest resistance to chemical attack than the microcement concrete.
Highlights
The durability of any material depends on the environment to which it was exposed
The introduction of calcareous fillers into the formulation involves further degradation of the micropolymer concrete when exposed to hydrochloric acid
The results from the compressive, the threepoint bending, and the ultrasonic wave’s propagation tests conducted on microconcretes after their immersion to the selected three acid solutions suggest that the most relevant damage indicator is related to the compressive strength (Table 7)
Summary
The durability of any material depends on the environment to which it was exposed. for polymer concretes UV radiation, temperature, rain, and wind represent the most common environments [1]. In 2010, Reis published another work on the fracture properties and elastic modulus of the same epoxy polymer mortar exposed for 7 days to several chemical solutions with pH varying from 1.2 to 12.8 (distilled water, sulfuric, formic, acetic, lactic acids, sodium hydroxide and sodium chloride) [10]. The first objective of this study is to find the optimal calcareous fillers ratio providing the better mechanical performances and leading to the definition of a polymer concrete, called MPCm. The second objective of this work is to assess the durability of MPCc and MPCm when immersed to acid solutions for long durations (6 months) and to compare it with this of MCC exposed to the same aggressive environments. The degradation of microconcretes is measured throughout the evolution of compressive strength, the three points bending strength, the elastic modulus, the mass change, the chemical analysis, and the appearance change
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