Behavior and properties of tin slag polyester polymer concrete confined with FRP composites under compression

Abstract

Polymer concrete (PC) has acquired niche in construction industry due to superior mechanical properties, recyclability and adoption of variety of aggregates. This workpresents compressive behavior and properties of one such novel PC i.e. tin slag/polyester polymer concrete. Comparable siliceous content of tin slag was considered promising to provide better mechanical strength as in natural aggregates. Cylindrical short column specimens were fabricated to be tested under quasi-isostatic loading rate of 1 mm/min. Three different aggregate sizes in gap-graded configuration were tested to assess influence on mechanical properties. In addition, specimens were confined with GFRP and CFRP to determine and compare mechanical behavior with Portland Cement Concrete (PCC). Coarsest size (4+2 mm) aggregate offered the highest strength of 37.71 MPa for unconfined sample. This performance of coarsest size persisted in confined condition with compressive strength increment of 69.68 MPa (84.7%) and 98.36 MPa (160.8%) for one and two layers GFRP; 86 MPa (128.05%) and 125.07 MPa (231.66)% for one and two-layer CFRP, respectively. It was concluded that both increment in aggregate size and number of layers improved the compressive strength.

Keywords

• polymer-matrix composites (pmcs)
• mechanical behavior
• compressive testing
• frp confinement
• tin slag/polyester concrete