Preparation and Characterization of a Polymer Concrete and Estimation of Compressive Strength Using a Two-Phase Micromechanical Model

In comparison with conventional concrete، the polymer concrete has considerably better mechanical properties. Meanwhile، polymer concrete is more expensive than traditional cement concretes. Considering the good mechanical properties of polymer concrete، its applications can be developed by reducing manufacturing costs. In this study، in order to improve the mechanical properties and reduce the manufacturing costs of polymer concrete، a new formulation is presented. In this formulation، the more common mixture of large and small aggregates was replaced by silica sand. In addition، in order to reduce the manufacturing costs، polyester resin was used instead of epoxy resin as the base material. The compressive and three-point bending tests showed that the polyester-based concrete had a higher compressive strength (20%) in comparison with the epoxy-based concrete، while their bending strength was approximately the same. As a result، the manufacturing cost for the polymer concrete prepared using this new formulation can be reduced without decrements in mechanical properties. Moreover، a two-phase micromechanical model was applied to estimate the compressive strength of the polymer concrete. Using the two-phase micromechanical model، the mechanical properties of the polymer concrete were predicted. The results obtained from the modeling and experiments were in good agreement with each other (6. 8% error). The excellent mechanical properties of polyester-based concrete developed in the present research and its low cost in comparison with the epoxy-based concrete are key factors that can help its wider applications.