Performance of modified epoxy mortar using composite cement containing Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBS)

Abstract

The applications of modified epoxy mortar have been widely used in civil engineering construction field to reduce the usage of epoxy in strengthening applications. In the construction field, the usage of epoxy resin mortar was known as repair materials. For this research, an experimental work has been conducted on modified mortar containing epoxy with and without hardener. This research was conducted to analyze the compressive strength, density and water absorption of the specimen. The cement used for this study was a composite cement with the combination of 50% ordinary Portland cement and 50% Ground Granulated Blast Slag (GGBS). The mortars were prepared with water-cement ratio of 0.60, sand-cement ratio of 2:1 and the epoxy content of 1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, 5%, 6%, 7%, 8%, 9% and 100%. In this research, the type of epoxy used is Sikadur -31 CF Normal with and without hardener. The test was carried out by using cube mortar of size 50 mm x 50 mm x 50 mm. From the experimental results, the optimal percentage of epoxy content for compressive strength and water absorption was 3%. Besides, the highest compressive strength was 31.7 MPa of modified epoxy mortar without hardener and 34.8 MPa of modified epoxy mortar with hardener. It was concluded that 3 % of epoxy was the optimal percentage for the modified mortar because of the compressive strength reached the nearest with the control mortar specimen.