Abstract
Often underestimated and neglected, joint sealants in concrete structures play an important role in protecting the structure against its premature deterioration. The focus of the presented paper lays upon the issue of sealing of joints in concrete structures. Concrete is one of the most difficult materials to seal since there are always small particles of dust and the material itself. In this paper, the joint will be viewed as traditional expansion joint. Two representatives of flexible one component polyurethane sealants were selected. The main reason for this selection was that conventional repair materials are usually very rigid and easily incline towards the formation of cracks and gaps. The aim of this paper is not only to verify the suitability of selected materials but also to demonstrate that polyurethane sealants might be a better and long-lasting solution for filling of joints and patching of cracks within concrete structures.
Highlights
From time immemorial, building structures have been designed such that they are able to withstand the contrary effects of the environment for a certain time
The terms "for a certain time" and "the surrounding environment" are used for a purpose here, and that is because the phenomenon of ageing buildings is currently an increasingly discussed problem that is faced by every larger city [1,2,3,4,5]
The normalized value less than 1 indicated that the joint sealant was in a compressive state and a normalized value close to 0 indicates more compression of the joint sealant with respect to the original width
Summary
From time immemorial, building structures have been designed such that they are able to withstand the contrary effects of the environment for a certain time. There are countless sealants, filling adhesives and materials on the market, so it is not surprising that designers often scratch their heads over the question of what sealant to use in the design, whether the selected sealant is suitable for use in the proposed combination of materials etc. This lack of information and knowledge can greatly accelerate the ageing of the selected sealant and irreversibly damage the whole structure. While some products have a service life as low as three or four years, see Fig. 1 (C, D), today we already know that some silicones can last up to 25 years in the case of a correct installation [6]
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