Beutel, Amy (2015) Optimal mix design for epoxy resin polymer concrete. [USQ Project]
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Abstract
Concrete is one of the most widely used materials in the construction industry, being well known for its high compressive strength. However it is known to be weak in tensile strength, flexural strength and often requires reinforcement. There is a solution to this problem, polymer concrete. Polymer concrete has many improved qualities compared to that of normal concrete which have been thoroughly investigated in previous research. However, one gap in the research that does exist is the use of coarse aggregate in the polymer concrete mix. This project will concentrate on finding the ideal mix design for epoxy resin polymer concrete with the addition of coarse aggregate.
To achieve this objective there were three minor objectives created, which will be used as the three studies for the project. The first of these was to find the ideal resin to filler ratio that provides the best distribution of the coarse aggregate for the least amount of air voids. Then, using the resin to filler ratio from Study One, Study Two varies the amount of aggregate to investigate the strength properties of the specimens. Finally, using the strongest mix from Study Two, an Empirical Prediction Formula will be formed relating the tensile strength to compressive strength.
Study One shows that the ideal resin to filler ratio is 60% resin to 40% filler. Using this ratio in Study Two, it was found that the mix design with no aggregate in the mix was the strongest for all strength tests. It was determined that this is due to the addition of aggregate to the mix causing air voids, therefore reducing the strength. However, for all three tests, it was observed that the maximum strength varied little between the four mix designs confirming that the addition of aggregate and how much is added does not have a large impact on the strength of the sample. It can also be seen that the Young’s Modulus for all the compressive samples is quite low, therefore showing excellent elasticity of the mix designs which was a desired property.
As the amount of aggregate added to the mix does not have a notable effect on the strength or elasticity of polymer concrete, course aggregate can be added to the mix to reduce the cost of the epoxy resin concrete allowing the product to be more cost competitive in the general construction sector.
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| Item Type: | USQ Project |
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| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Bachelor of Civil Engineering (Honours) project |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Civil Engineering and Surveying (1 Jul 2013 - 31 Dec 2021) |
| Supervisors: | Manalo, Allan |
| Date Deposited: | 31 May 2016 23:24 |
| Last Modified: | 05 Jun 2016 23:57 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Optimal mix design, epoxy resin polymer concrete |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 09 Engineering > 0905 Civil Engineering > 090501 Civil Geotechnical Engineering |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 40 ENGINEERING > 4005 Civil engineering > 400502 Civil geotechnical engineering |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/29176 |
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