Mechanical Properties and Durability of Mortars Made with Organic-Inorganic Repair Material

Abstract

Abstract The purpose of this study was to evaluate the mechanical properties and durability of mortars made with organic-inorganic repair materials (OIRMs). The ratio between the main resin and hardener of the organic binder was fixed at 2:1 for the fabrication of OIRM mixtures, while the ratio of the inorganic binder was varied. For a performance comparison with OIRM mixtures, a mortar mixture was fabricated with a conventional cementitious repair material (CRM). The mechanical properties of mortars, such as flow, strength characteristics (compressive, flexural, and bonding strengths), drying shrinkage, and absorption, as well as the durability properties, such as freezing-thawing resistance and resistance to chloride ion penetration, were measured to evaluate mortar performance. The experimental results show that the OIRM mixtures had more favorable mechanical properties (except for compressive strength) and durability than the CRM mixture. In particular, the OIRM mixture with a 1:2:12 (resin:hardener:organic binder) ratio exhibited the most outstanding performances. In conclusion, based on the results of this study, OIRMs should be considered promising repair materials for degraded concrete structures in the future.