Response Surface Method for Strength Analysis and Proportion Optimization of New Type Sealing Materials

Abstract

The influence of the interaction among water-cement ratio, content of expansion agent, water reducing agent, and retarder on the compressive strength of new sealing material was studied. The Design-Expert software was used to design experiments, establish a quadratic polynomial regression model, draw response surface, and optimize parameters. The microstructure morphology of the sample is explored by a scanning electron microscope (hereinafter referred to as SEM). The research results show that the interaction between the water-cement ratio and expansion agent content is the most crucial factor affecting the compressive strength of the new sealing material. Under the optimal condition of 0.4% water reducing agent, 0.04% retarder, 0.8 water-cement ratio, and 8% expansion agent, the compressive strength of the sealing material cured for 3 d and 7 d is 39.247 MPa and 41.044 MPa, with the maximum absolute error of 1.71% and 2.81%, which proves the high accuracy of the model. The main hydration products of the new sealing material are ettringite and C-S-H gel, interlacing each other to form a dense structure, which contributes to the high strength of the new sealing material.