Properties of polymer concrete modified by water-based acrylic resin

Abstract

One of the offered ways to increase the service life of concrete constructions is the use of polymers in concrete. The new Latex-Modified Concrete (LMC) has opened new development paths of the interdisciplinary science. It is claimed that LMC has ability to reduce ingress of water and aggressive solutions, bond strongly with old concrete. This paper shows the results of researches on the effect of two kinds of Acrylic Emulsion resins included Pure Acrylic (PA) and Styrene Acrylic (SA) resins on physical, mechanical and durability properties of concrete. Tests included compressive and tensile strengths, water absorption, carbonation and rapid chloride migration test (RCMT) have been done on LMC samples (water/cement=0.445). Based on experimentally obtained results, some of LMCs have better properties such as better resistance to chloride migration and water absorption based on their structures and inversely some of them have worse properties than unmodified concrete. According to the results the acrylic resin with the lowest minimum film formation temperature has the most resistance to the aggressive conditions.