Mechanical Properties of Reinforced Polymer Concrete with Three Types of Resin Systems

This paper studies the mechanical properties of polymer concrete (PC) with three types of resin systems. First, the effect of 0.5 wt% up to 3 wt% basalt fiber on the mechanical properties of a quaternary epoxy-based PC is investigated experimentally, and the best weight percentage of basalt fiber is obtained. The results show that adding basalt fiber to PC caused the greatest enhancement within 10% in compressive strength, 10% in flexural strength, 35% in the splitting tensile strength, and 315% in impact strength. In the next step, the effect of nanoclay particles on the mechanical properties of basalt fiber-reinforced PC (BFRPC) is analyzed experimentally. Nanoclays increase the compressive strength up to 7%, flexural strength up to 27%, and impact strength up to 260% but decrease the tensile strength of the PC. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) analysis is performed to study the fracture surface and morphology of various concrete specimens. In the last step, we consider the effect of two other different resin systems, rigid polyurethane and rigid polyurethane foam on the mechanical properties of reinforced polymer concrete. A comparison study presents that the epoxy PC has a higher specific strength than the polyurethane and ultra-lightweight polyurethane foam PC.