The Effect of Biocontamination on Mechanical Strength and Moisture Transfer Performance of Epoxy Basalt Fiber Reinforcement Bar Exposed to Arctic Conditions.
Anatoly K Kychkin, Oleg V Startsev, Mikhail P Lebedev, Aisen A Kychkin, Irina G Lukachevskaia
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
This study involved the exposure of epoxy-coated basalt-plastic rebars, with diameters of 6 and 8 mm, to the open climate conditions of Yakutsk and Tiksi, located in the Arctic region of Russia. The exposure duration was 54 months. Basalt-plastic rebars were tested both untreated and after contamination with a set of neutral microorganisms resilient to cold climates, including spore-forming bacteria from the genus Bacillus, and mold fungi from the genera Aspergillus. Results showed that after 12, 24, and 54 months of exposure, the tensile strength and modulus of elasticity of untreated rebars increased by 5-14% due to the post-curing of the epoxy matrix. However, in biologically contaminated rebars, these indicators decreased on average by 11%. Bacterial cells and fungal mycelium, which penetrated surface irregularities of the rebars under open climate conditions, contributed to microcrack development, reducing the mechanical properties of the basalt-plastic rebars and causing additional moisture diffusion in the radial direction of the bars.
期刊介绍:
Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360) is an international, open access journal of polymer science. It publishes research papers, short communications and review papers. Our aim is to encourage scientists to publish their experimental and theoretical results in as much detail as possible. Therefore, there is no restriction on the length of the papers. The full experimental details must be provided so that the results can be reproduced. Polymers provides an interdisciplinary forum for publishing papers which advance the fields of (i) polymerization methods, (ii) theory, simulation, and modeling, (iii) understanding of new physical phenomena, (iv) advances in characterization techniques, and (v) harnessing of self-assembly and biological strategies for producing complex multifunctional structures.