IMPROVEMENT OF MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF CONCRETE THROUGH THE ADDITION OF POLYMER LATEX

Abstract

It was found that the strain at maximum compressive and tensile stress of polymer-modified concrete became steadily greater with the increasing polymer content. Compressive strain was measured to be 140, 170, and 320 percent of plain concrete and tensile strain to be 170, 210, and 300 percent when polymer-cement ratio was 10, 20, and 30 percent, respectively. Toughness was measured to be 146, 182, and 205 percent of plain concrete when polymer-cement ratio was 15, 25, and 30 percent respectively. The polymer latex was added during mixing. The specimens were of 10x20 cm sylinder, and cured in air at 20 C for 28 days. Experiments were carried out with shearwalls made of the polymer-modified concrete in order to examine the improvement of ductility and toughness under the shear force. The wall specimens were panels of 132 x 193 x 3.7 cm. It was found from the experiments that ductility increased by 160 to 180 percent and toughness increased by 140 to 200 percent of the corresponding values for the ordinary concrete shearwall. /ACI/