Statistical assessment on relationship between fracture parameters of plain and fiber reinforced polymer concrete materials

Abstract

Polymer concrete is a relatively new concrete in which a matrix made of a polymeric resin material is used to bind the ingredients. In this paper, 288 specimens made of 72 different plain and fiber-reinforced polymer concrete mixtures (PC and FRPC) are prepared and tested to assess the fracture behavior under pure mode I and pure mode II conditions. The main purpose of this research is to determine the relationships between fracture load and work of fracture as two important fracture mechanics parameters using statistical clustering or trends analysis. The weight percentages of the ingredients were varied as 17–25% resin, 75–81% fine and coarse aggregates, and 0–2% glass fibers. A general comparison of results obtained from the PC and FRPC materials show that for a given mix-design, addition of glass fiber increases the work of fracture by about 10%. The assessment shows a good correlation between fracture load and work of fracture. Results also show that the relation between the fracture load and work of fracture obeys the dominantly linear curve. The scatter of results obtained for the FRPC material were higher than the data of PC mixture for both modes I and II. In addition, the fracture resistance characteristics of both PC and FRPC mixtures tested under mode II loading conditions are greater than the corresponding values of mode I case.