Study of the viscoelastic nature of polymer concrete through AN analysis of the microstructure and fundamental mechanical properties

J. Tomás San-José^{1, 2} and A. J. M. Ferreira^{3, *}

¹ LABEIN, C/Geldo – Parque Tecnológico de Bizkaia, Edif. 700. 48160 Derio, Vizcaya, Spain.

² UPV-EHU Basque Country University. ESI de Bilbao, Alda. Urquijo s/n. 48013 Bilbao , Spain.

³ Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto, Departamento de Engenharia Mecânica e Gestão Industrial, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal.

Abstract

This paper deals with the study of a high performance concrete formed by a polymer matrix based on isophthalic and orthophthalic polyester resin, acting as a binder. It describes the properties of two specific polyester polymer concretes, which were tested by using different experimental techniques such as porosimetry and scanning electron microscopy. Likewise, characterisation in a macro-scale was carried out to define the fundamental mechanical properties. On the other hand, and due to the viscoelastic nature of the polymer resins used, we tested the deformability under compression loads, usually presented in real structures (own weight, permanent loads, etc.). Finally, several factors are taken into consideration in order to identify fundamental aspects to bear in mind for future designs.

Keywords: concrete, deformations, mechanical, microscopy, polymer, resin

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* Corresponding author