Fracture behavior of glass fiber reinforced polymer concrete

Abstract

Polymer concrete, is a composite material formed by polymerizing a monomer and an aggregate mixture. The polymerized monomer acts as the binder for the aggregates. Initiators and promoters are added to the resin prior to its mixing with the inorganic aggregates to initiate the curing reaction. Fracture behavior of chopped glass fiber reinforced polymer concrete was investigated in this study using the two-parameter model, according to RILEM recommendations. This is a direct method to calculate the flexural modulus of elasticity and two size-independent fracture parameters, i.e., the critical stress intensity factor, K IC, and the crack tip opening displacement (CTOD). Beams with a central notch were tested under three-point bending using an attached clip gauge to measure the CTOD. The chopped glass fibers used were 6 and 25 mm long. The fibers were also pre-treated to improve the adhesion between fibers and resin and fracture properties. In general, addition of fibers increases flexural strength and fracture properties of polymer concrete. The modulus of elasticity of glass fiber polymer concrete can increase by up to 39%. The object of this research work is to evaluate the influence of fibers on the mechanical and fracture properties of polymer concrete. This paper is a new contribution to a research field with a very small number of publications.