Development of Improved Polymeric Materials for Repairing Portland CementConcrete Using Combinations of Vinyl Esters and Methacrylates

摘要

A mechanistic approach was used to develop improved polymer concrete (PC) forrepair of portland cement concrete (PCC). The VEPM binder system (vinyl esters containing acrylonitrile-butadiene copolymer, polar methacrylates, styrene and a silane coupling agent) produced PCs with tensile, flexural and compressive strengths superior to existing polyester PCs. VEPM PCs have excellent bonding characteristics to steel and PCC (both dry and moist), and the bonds are highly resistant to degradation by harsh freeze-thaw-soak cycles. They also have good properties in glass transition temperature, oil absorption, water absorption, chemical resistance and volume shrinkage. Because this contract had only a year's duration, additional research will be needed to lower the binder modulus without sacrificing good bond characteristics and strength, to improve control of pot-life and cure time, and to study the effect of types, sizes and size distributions of aggregates. Preliminary results in these areas suggest that it will indeed be possible to develop a superior polymer concrete based on the VEPM binder system.