Mechanical and physical properties of epoxy polymer concrete after exposure to temperatures up to 250 °C

This research deals with polymer concrete, PC, based on epoxy resin hardened with a modified polyamines. The used aggregates are sand graded from 0 to 4 mm (S0/4) and gravel graded from 4 to 10 mm (G4/10). Four formulations were fabricated differing by the polymer content which ranged from 6% to 16%. The evolution of the elastic moduli obtained through ultrasonic wave's propagation method, the thermal conductivity, the porosity and the mechanical strengths in flexure and compression show that the optimum polymer content that guarantees obtaining a polymer concrete with the highest mechanical performances and the lowest cost is about 13%. The optimum polymer concrete is then exposed to temperature less than 250 degrees C for 3 h and the obtained results were compared to those of an ordinary cement concrete. When exposed to temperatures higher than 150 degrees C, the epoxy polymer concrete shows a significant loss of strengths mainly due to the thermo-oxidative degradation of the epoxy polymer and to the debonding between aggregates and the binder. These degradations are accompanied by a gas release. Cement based concrete has lower mechanical properties compared to polymer concrete. Results show that when exposed to temperatures less than 250 degrees C the epoxy polymer concrete is still more efficient than cement based concrete. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.