Construction and Building Materials 37 (2012) 669–679

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Construction and Building Materials

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Mechanical properties of acrylic polymer concrete containing methacrylic acid as

an additive
Seung-Wan Son a, Jung Heum Yeon b,⇑
a
Department of Regional Infrastructure Engineering, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 200-701, Republic of Korea
b
Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station D9300, Austin, TX 78712, USA

h i g h l i g h t s

" Effect of methacrylic acid (MAA) on mechanical properties of acrylic polymer concrete was investigated.
" The higher the MAA content, the greater the mechanical properties of acrylic polymer concrete.
" Excellent mechanical properties were achieved even at a low curing temperature solely by adding MAA.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This study experimentally examines the effect of methacrylic acid (MAA) on the mechanical properties of
Received 14 April 2012 polymer concrete using methyl methacrylate (MMA)–polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) as a binder in
Received in revised form 28 June 2012 order to develop the polymer concrete that can be used at low temperatures. To achieve this aim, a series
Accepted 22 July 2012
of laboratory tests were conducted to measure the mechanical properties such as compressive strength,
Available online 13 September 2012
splitting tensile strength, flexural strength, modulus of elasticity, and Poisson’s ratio. Along with the
mechanical properties, the hardening time and working life were also investigated. As a result, adding
Keywords:
MAA was found to be effective for ensuring the working life at a low temperature and improving the
Polymer concrete
MAA
strengths at an early stage, especially within the first 12 h. Furthermore, research revealed that the higher
Mechanical properties the MAA content, the greater the modulus of elasticity and Poisson’s ratio. In conclusion, acrylic polymer
MMA concrete with excellent mechanical properties could be achieved even at a temperature as low as 20 °C
PMMA solely by adding MAA.
Published by Elsevier Ltd.

1. Introduction acrylate (PMMA) system as a binder [2,3,17,18], but most of them

focused on the polymer concrete employing trimethylopropane
Polymer concrete has been widely used for repair and overlay of trimethacrylate (TMPTMA) as a cross-linking agent. Very few re-
deteriorated concrete pavements, airport runways, and bridge search efforts have been made on the MMA–PMMA polymer con-
decks as well as fabrication of precast products due to its well- crete using MAA, one of the polar monomers serves as an
known advantages in hardening time, freezing and thawing resis- auxiliary accelerator.
tance, corrosion resistance, compressive strength, splitting tensile Polymer concrete with acrylic resin (hereinafter, acrylic polymer
strength, flexural strength, and bond strength [1]. To date, exten- concrete), investigated in this study, is rapid set and typically expe-
sive research studies have been made on the binders for polymer riences slight changes in mechanical properties once hardened.
concrete such as unsaturated polyester resin [1,2–4], gamma irra- The acrylic polymer concrete has several benefits as a structural
diation-treated unsaturated polyester resin [5–7], unsaturated material due to its ease of viscosity adjustment to a variety of lev-
polyester resin incorporating methyl methacrylate (MMA) [8–10], els, excellent weather, chemical and abrasion resistances, and high
epoxy resin [11], sulfur [12], unsaturated polyester resin from bond strength. However, the MMA monomer, a binder employed in
recycled PET [13], and sodium silicate [14]. Further studies have this study, typically has a low viscosity (0.56 mPa s), slow harden-
been conducted on polymer modified concrete [15] and polymer ing time, and high evaporation rate, which prevents the MMA
impregnated concrete [16]. Also, there have been several research monomer from being used alone for polymer concrete. Accord-
studies on the polymer concrete using an MMA–polymethyl meth- ingly, the agents such as TMPTMA, tetraethylene diacrylate (TTEG-
DA), and glycerol methacrylate (GM) which have two or more
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 512 232 3141; fax: +1 512 232 3153. unsaturated double bonds to a single molecule are used as a cross
E-mail addresses: herossw@nate.com (S.-W. Son), jyeon@utexas.edu (J.H. Yeon). linker to improve the strength and accelerating the hardening

0950-0618/$ - see front matter Published by Elsevier Ltd.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2012.07.093
670 S.-W. Son, J.H. Yeon / Construction and Building Materials 37 (2012) 669–679

Table 1 Table 4
Properties of MMA and PMMA. Properties of MAA monomer.

Materials Density Viscosity Molecular Appearance Density Viscosity Molecular Appearance

for binder (25 °C) (20 °C, mPa s) weight (g/mol) (20 °C) (20 °C, mPa s) weight (g/mol)
MMA 0.942 0.56 100 Colorless liquid 1.01 1.3 86.1 Colorless liquid
PMMA 1.19 ca. 250,000 Transparent solid

Table 5
Table 2 Physical properties of crushed silica stone.
Properties of BPO.
Size Apparent Bulk Unit Fineness Water Organic
Melting point (°C) Molecular weight (g/mol) Appearance (mm) density density weight modulus content impurities
(kg/m3) (%)
104–105 242.23 Crystalline solid, white
0.08–8 2.64 2.62 1648 3.09 <0.1 Nil

time. In addition, the thermoplastic resins such as polymethyl

methacrylate (PMMA) and polystyrene (PS) are used not only to
minimize shrinkage and evaporation but also to increase strengths.
Generally, the type and addition amount of initiator and accel-
erator, curing temperature, and aggregate quality are the elements
affecting the hardening time and mechanical properties of polymer
concrete. The curing temperature is a critical factor determining
the hardening and strength development characteristics [19]. For
this reason, in case of winter concreting, heating aggregates or pro-
tecting concrete with polyethylene sheet is typically required to
ensure the proper curing temperature.
In this study, the acrylic polymer concrete using MMA–PMMA
as a binder and MAA as a catalyst supplement was fabricated
and tested. The present study aims at examining the effects of
MAA on the mechanical properties such as compressive strength,
splitting tensile strength, flexural strength, modulus of elasticity,
and Poisson’s ratio at different levels of curing temperature. The
findings of this study could be used as useful data for repair of
existing infrastructures and manufacturing of precast products.
Fig. 1. Gradation curve of aggregate.

2. Material and method

Table 6
2.1. Material Properties of heavy calcium carbonate.

2.1.1. MMA binder Specific Absorption Water pH Mean Retained

In this study, MMA binder was produced by dissolving PMMA powder in MMA gravity (cc/g) content (%) grain size percentage of
monomer. The PMMA is a thickening agent, which increases the viscosity of MMA (g/cc) (lm) 325 mesh sieve
monomer by polymerization. Table 1 shows the properties of MMA and PMMA
0.75 0.20 50.3 8.8 13 0.03
used.

2.1.2. Initiator
Benzoyl peroxide (BPO) is a radical polyinitator and produces a polymer by
2.1.5. Aggregates and filler
forming a new radical when binding to a monomer. Table 2 summarizes the prop-
If aggregate absorbs water, the bond strength between the binder and aggregate
erties of BPO used.
weakens, resulting in strength reduction of polymer concrete. This is because phase
separation occurs as the polymer binder is hydrophobic. Accordingly, it is necessary
2.1.3. Accelerator to keep the aggregates’ moisture content below 0.1% prior to mixing. As polymer
N,N-Dimethylaniline (DMA) is an accelerator which helps polymerization even concrete is a high strength material, the strength of aggregate itself is also impor-
at a low temperature. Table 3 shows the properties of MMA used. tant. The aggregate used in this study is crushed silica stone, and its mechanical
properties and gradation curve are indicated in Table 5 and Fig. 1, respectively.
Heavy calcium carbonate was used as the filler to ensure the good workability.
2.1.4. Auxiliary accelerator The mechanical properties and chemical compositions of the filler used are shown
Auxiliary accelerator (MAA) is a polar monomer enhancing the compatibility in Tables 6 and 7, respectively.
with other types of resins. Also, MAA functions as a supplementary catalysis, help-
ing the hardening reaction as well as the strength improvement. The properties of
MAA used in this study are summarized in Table 4. 2.2. Test method

2.2.1. Binder formations and mixture proportions of polymer concrete

Table 3 The optimal mixture proportions can be obtained by maximizing the amount of
Properties of DMA. aggregate and filler and minimizing the amount of binder, as long as the required
workability and strength are ensured. In this study, the binder composition ratio
Density Boiling Melting Molecular Appearance and concrete mixture proportions were determined based on the preliminary tests
(25 °C) point (°C) point (°C) weight (g/mol) on the polymer concretes with different MMA–PMMA ratios and volume of binder.
0.942 193–194 1.5–2.5 121.18 Yellowish liquid The binder composition ratios and polymer concrete mixture proportions deter-
mined are summarized in Table 8.
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Table 7 hardening time. Especially at subzero temperatures, the addition

Chemical compositions of heavy calcium carbonate (unit: %). of MAA is proven to be quite effective in reducing the hardening
CaO Al2O3 Fe2O3 SiO2 MgO Ignition loss time.
53.7 0.25 0.09 2.23 0.66 42.4

3.1.2. Working life of polymer concrete

Fig. 3 displays the effects of MAA content and curing tempera-
ture on the working life of acrylic polymer concrete. According to
2.2.2. Hardening time test
the results, the working life at 20 °C was 64 min without MAA,
The setting time of binder was defined as the time period from the moment
when BPO, DMA, and MAA were completely mixed with MMA–PMMA resin until but it was substantially delayed to 138 min at 20 °C. The working
the exothermic temperature of polymer concrete reached its peak. In the present life at 20 °C was significantly reduced to 60 and 26 min when the
study, the setting time was measured for different levels of MAA and curing MAA contents were 5 and 15 phr, respectively. This is most likely
temperatures. because the MAA contributed to the increase of polarity of poly-
The working life of polymer concrete was evaluated in accordance with the fin-
ger-touching method among three methods presented in KS F 2484 (Measuring
methods for working life of polyester resin concrete).

2.2.3. Fabrication of specimens and strength tests

Polymer concrete specimens were fabricated with different amounts of MAA (0,
5, 10, and 15 phr (parts per hundred parts of resin)), while the amount of initiator
and accelerator was fixed to 2 phr. With the fabricated specimens, compressive
strength, splitting tensile strength, and flexural strength were measured for differ-
ent levels of curing temperatures ( 20, 0, and 20 °C) and ages (6, 12, 24, 48, 72, and
168 h). For the compressive and splitting tensile strength tests, a cylindrical speci-
men with Ø5  10 cm was employed, whereas a prismatic specimen with
4  4  16 cm was used for the flexural strength test. The compressive strength
and splitting tensile strength tests were conducted in accordance with KS F 2481
(Method of test for compressive strength of polyester resin concrete) and KS F 2480
(Method of test for splitting tensile strength of polyester resin concrete), respectively.
For the flexural strength test, KS F 2482 (Method of test for flexural strength of poly-
ester resin concrete) was used. For all these strength tests, a 20-ton capacity Univer-
sal Testing Machine (Instron 8502) was utilized.

2.2.4. Modulus of elasticity and Poisson’s ratio tests

Modulus of elasticity and Poisson’s ratio tests were performed in accordance
with KS F 2438 (Testing method for static modulus of elasticity and Poisson’s ratio in
compression of cylindrical concrete specimens). Strain was monitored using a wire
strain gage with a 30-mm effective gage length, and the data was stored with a data Fig. 2. Effects of MAA content and curing temperature on setting time.
logger (Tokyo Sokki; TDS-602).

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Hardening characteristics

3.1.1. Setting time of binder

The setting time of binder is directly related to the working life
of polymer concrete. Fig. 2 shows the effects of MAA content and
curing temperature on the setting time of binder. The results show
the setting time ranged from 44 to 126 min when no MAA added,
21 to 46 min when 5 phr, 15 to 34 min when 10 phr, and 9 to
19 min when 15 phr. Note that the setting time of binder signifi-
cantly depends on the MAA content. Also, the lower the curing
temperature, the longer the setting time. The differences in hard-
ening time between 20 and 20 °C were 82 min when no MAA
added, 25 min when 5 phr, 18 min when 10 phr, and 10 min when
15 phr, which indicates the remarkable effect of MAA content on
the hardening time, particularly at low temperatures.
Based on the obtained results, it can be concluded that the MAA
content and curing temperature had substantial impacts on the Fig. 3. Effects of MAA content and curing temperature on working life.

Table 8
Binder formations and mixture proportions of polymer concrete.

Binder content (wt.%) Binder formation (wt.%) Filler (wt.%) Aggregate (wt.%)
MMA PMMA MAA (phr) BPO (phr) DMA (phr)
12 80 20 0 2 2 18 70
5
10
15

phr: parts per hundred parts of resin.

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mers, which accelerated the hardening reactions of acrylic polymer In general, the optimal working life of polymer concrete for field
concrete. operations is 60 min. Based on the experimental result, the mini-
The described results were obtained with only 2 phr of initiator mum MAA content of 5 phr is recommended to meet the working
and accelerator, which was much less amount than the one used in life standard at an extreme curing temperature as low as 20 °C.
the previous research studies; when MMA monomer and TMPTMA
were used as binders, the amounts of initiator and accelerator to 3.2. Strength development characteristics
ensure the desired working life were 5–20 phr at 20 °C [17] and
9.5 phr at 32 °C [20]. It should be noted that the sufficient level 3.2.1. Compressive strength
of working life could be achieved only with small amounts of ini- Fig. 4 shows the age-dependent compressive strength develop-
tiator and accelerator when MAA was used. ments of acrylic polymer concrete with different curing tempera-
Furthermore, the result showed a strong dependency of work- tures and MAA contents. As seen in the result, the 168-h
ing life on the curing temperature. The working life ranged from compressive strength at 20 °C ranged from 90.6 to 113.1 MPa,
13 to 64 min when the curing temperature was 20 °C, while the which is much higher than the results from the previous studies
working life was delayed to 26–138 min when the curing temper- on compressive strength developments [21–24]. It was also noted
ature was 20 °C. Also, the working life tended to significantly de- that the 168-day compressive strength of acrylic polymer concrete
crease as the MAA content increases even at a same level of curing varied between 68.0 and 92.4 MPa even at a curing temperature as
temperature. low as 20 °C, which is much higher than the 28-day compressive

Fig. 4. Effects of curing age and MAA content on compressive strength: (a) 20 °C; (b) 0 °C; (c) 20 °C.
 S.-W. Son, J.H. Yeon / Construction and Building Materials 37 (2012) 669–679 673

strengths of conventional portland cement concrete cured at 5 °C age of 168 h, which indicates that the excessive use of MAA (more
(2.7 MPa) and the high performance concrete cured at 5 °C than 15 phr) could be inefficient for the strength improvement of
(16.3 MPa) [25]. The measured strengths were even higher than acrylic polymer concrete.
the 168-h compressive strength of UP-MMA based polymer mortar Another result showed that the acrylic polymer concrete exhib-
cured at 20 °C (36.6 MPa) [8] as well as the PMMA polymer con- its quite high compressive strengths even at a low curing temper-
crete incorporating 20 wt.% of TMPTMA cured at 20 °C (49 MPa at ature, i.e., 20 °C. When the MAA content was 15 phr, the
1 h and 88 MPa at 168 h) [17]. compressive strengths were 74.8 and 92.4 MPa at the ages of 6
To examine the strength development characteristics in more and 168 h, respectively, and these strengths were much greater
detail, the ratios of strength developments at the specified ages than the compressive strengths of ordinary portland cement cured
(6 and 12 h) to the 168-h strength were evaluated. The result re- at room temperature (21 MPa) and the polymer concrete incorpo-
vealed that, at 6 and 12 h, the strength development ratios were rating MMA and TMPTMA as binders cured at 1 °C (47.5 MPa) [26].
67.9–85.7% and 77.9–92.2%, respectively. From the result, it can
be seen that the rate of strength development was quite high even 3.2.2. Splitting tensile strength
at early ages. The finding also implies that the strength develop- The splitting tensile strength developments of acrylic polymer
ment ratio quite depends on the MAA content; the higher the concrete with different curing temperatures and MAA contents
MAA content, the higher the strength development ratio. Further- are presented in Fig. 5. As can be seen in the result, the 168-h split-
more, it is important to note that the strength development ratio of ting tensile strength at a 20 °C curing temperature varied between
10-phr MAA to the 15-phr MAA was higher than 97% at the curing 11.3 and 14.2 MPa, which is slightly higher or comparable to the

Fig. 5. Effects of curing age and MAA content on splitting tensile strength: (a) 20 °C; (b) 0 °C; (c) 20 °C.
674 S.-W. Son, J.H. Yeon / Construction and Building Materials 37 (2012) 669–679

results presented in previous studies [1,22,23]. Also, the strength The result also revealed that even though the splitting tensile
was even higher than the splitting tensile strength of high strength strength substantially varied depending on the curing tempera-
concrete with compressive strength of 117.7 MPa (7.7–8.7 MPa) ture, there was no significant difference in the strength develop-
[27]. Another comparison result revealed the high splitting tensile ment ratios at each curing temperature. This finding resulted
strength characteristics of acrylic polymer concrete at a low curing because the reference strength (the strength without MAA) tended
temperature. According to the investigation, the splitting tensile to decrease as the curing temperature decreases.
strength of 8.9–12.3 MPa was obtained at 20 °C at the age of
168 h, which is higher than the 168-h splitting tensile strength of 3.2.3. Flexural strength
UP-MMA based polymer mortar cured at 20 °C (5.8 MPa) [8] Fig. 6 displays the flexural strength developments of acrylic
and the polymer concrete using MMA and TTEGDA as binders polymer concrete with different curing temperatures and MAA
cured at 18 °C (7.9–9.3 MPa) [20]. contents. According to the result, the 168-h flexural strength at
The ratios of splitting tensile strengths at the specified ages (6 20 °C ranged from 20.8 to 24.5 MPa, which is higher than not only
and 12 h) to the 168-h strength were computed to investigate the results of previous studies [1,22,23] but also the flexural
the age-dependent strength development characteristics. The re- strength of high strength concrete with compressive strength of
sult showed that the strength development ratios were 66.3– 117.7 MPa (9.2–11.5 MPa) [27]. When it comes to the acrylic poly-
76.8%, 70.0–83.0%, and 80.5–89.0% at 6, 12, and 24 h, respectively. mer concrete cured at a temperature as low as 20 °C, the flexural
From the result, it can be indicated that the rate of strength devel- strength varied between 17.6 and 21.8 MPa at the age of 168 h.
opment is significantly influenced by the MAA contents; as the These values were much higher than the 168-h flexural strength
MAA content increases, the strength development ratio increases. of UP-MMA based polymer mortar cured at 20 °C (6.1 MPa) [8].

Fig. 6. Effects of curing age and MAA content on flexural strength: (a) 20 °C; (b) 0 °C; (c) 20 °C.
 S.-W. Son, J.H. Yeon / Construction and Building Materials 37 (2012) 669–679 675

Fig. 7. Comparison of strength increase rate at age of 168 h: (a) compressive strength; (b) splitting tensile strength; (c) flexural strength.

Fig. 8. Relationship between compressive strength and splitting tensile strength. Fig. 9. Relationship between compressive strength and flexural strength.

The ratios of flexural strengths at 6, 12, and 24 h to the 168-h curing temperatures (20, 0, and 20 °C) at 168 h. Herein, the rate
flexural strength were evaluated. The result showed that the ratios of strength increase was defined as the ratio of the strength in-
were 81.3–83.8%, 84.2–89.0%, and 88.6–93.6%, respectively, and crease to the reference strength at 0 phr. The result indicates that
these were slightly higher than those of compressive strength the rate of strength increase for compressive strength, splitting
and splitting tensile strength. From the result, it can be found that tensile strength, and flexural strength tended to increase as the
the flexural strength development ratio is also greatly affected by curing temperature reduces. This result occurred because the refer-
the MAA content. ence strength (the strength when no MAA added) decreased as the
curing temperature decreased. Also noted was that, at the same
3.3. Rate of strength increase curing temperature, the rate of strength increase considerably in-
creased as the MAA content increased.
Fig. 7 shows the effect of MAA content (5, 10, and 15 phr) on the The maximum rates of strength increase were observed when
rate of strength increase of acrylic polymer concrete at different the curing temperature was 20 °C and the MAA content was
676 S.-W. Son, J.H. Yeon / Construction and Building Materials 37 (2012) 669–679

Table 9 15 phr, and the rates were 35.7%, 38.2%, and 23.8% for compressive
Results of strength ratio calculation. strength, splitting tensile strength, and flexural strength, respec-
Curing temperature (°C) MAA content (phr) ft/fc (–) fb/fc (–) ft/fb (–) tively. These results were quite similar with the cases when the
20 0 0.125 0.233 0.535 MAA content was 10 phr, but were significantly higher than the
5 0.122 0.221 0.554 cases when the MAA content was 5 phr: 18.6%, 15.7%, and 8.5%,
10 0.123 0.222 0.552 respectively. It is important to note that the difference in strength
15 0.126 0.226 0.559 increase ratio between 10 and 15 phr was quite small since this
0 0 0.131 0.233 0.535 finding implies that using more than 15 phr of MAA could be
5 0.128 0.221 0.554 inefficient for the strength improvement of acrylic polymer
10 0.122 0.222 0.552
15 0.122 0.226 0.559
concrete.
The strength developments of acrylic polymer concrete are
20 0 0.125 0.233 0.535
5 0.122 0.221 0.554
primarily due to the formation of random copolymers between
10 0.123 0.222 0.552 MMA and MAA, increasing the polarity of polymers, thereby form-
15 0.126 0.226 0.559 ing hydrogen bonds with a polar group exposed on aggregate
Mean 0.125 0.226 0.550 surface.

Fig. 10. Compressive stress–strain curves from cylindrical specimen: (a) 20 °C; (b) 0 °C; (c) 20 °C.
 S.-W. Son, J.H. Yeon / Construction and Building Materials 37 (2012) 669–679 677

Table 10 58.8 MPa, respectively. This finding indicates that the strength ra-
Modulus of elasticity obtained from compressive stress–strain curves. tio tends to decrease as the compressive strength increases. How-
Curing temperature MAA content Modulus of elasticity ever, in this study, the ratio of splitting tensile strength to the
(°C) (phr) (104 MPa) compressive strength was found to be 12.5% on average even when
20 5 3.09 the compressive strength was as high as 80–112 MPa.
10 3.24 Also, while the previous research revealed that the flexural
15 3.56 strength-compressive strength ratios of cement concrete were
0 5 2.89 16.3% and 11.3% when the cement concrete‘s compressive
10 3.03 strengths were 19.6 and 58.8 MPa, respectively, the strength ratio
15 3.26
for acrylic polymer concrete was found to be 22.6% on average
20 5 2.70 when the compressive strength varied 80–112 MPa, which is much
10 2.79
15 2.81
higher.
Based on the investigation, it can be concluded that the strength
ratios of acrylic polymer concrete are much higher than those of
portalnd cement concrete. This result is very important because
such properties of acrylic polymer concrete can be beneficial for
preventing the brittle failure of a structure by ensuring the suffi-
cient toughness. However, the result revealed that the strength ra-
tio was not significantly affected by the MAA content and curing
temperature.

3.5. Modulus of elasticity and Poisson’s ratio

3.5.1. Modulus of elasticity

Fig. 10 illustrates the compressive stress–strain curves of acrylic
polymer concrete with different curing temperatures and MAA
contents measured at the age of 168 h. Note that the relation be-
tween compressive stress and strain is almost linear until 60–
70% of the strength, which is different from normal strength port-
land cement concrete.
According to the result, the greater the compressive strength,
the smaller the strain increase per unit stress. Also, the ultimate
strain tended to decrease as the compressive strength increases.
Fig. 11. Relationship between compressive strength and modulus of elasticity. From the result, it is identified that the ultimate strain was further
influenced by the curing temperature than the MAA content.
The present study revealed that the ultimate strain of acrylic
3.4. Relationship among strengths and strength ratios
polymer concrete ranged from 0.0046 to 0.0061, which is nearly
twice the ultimate strain of ordinary cement concrete (0.003–
3.4.1. Estimation of splitting tensile and flexural strengths based on
0.004) and high strength concrete (0.002–0.003) [29]. This finding
compressive strength
implies that the acrylic polymer concrete possesses much greater
To estimate the splitting tensile strength and flexural strength
fracture energy than cement concrete as it has the higher strength
from the measured compressive strength, the relationships be-
as well as the larger ultimate strain.
tween the compressive strength and splitting tensile strength,
On the basis of the obtained compressive stress–strain data, the
and the compressive strength and flexural strength were analyzed
modulus of elasticity of acrylic polymer was determined. In this
using a regression analysis. The results are indicated in Figs. 8 and
study, a secant modulus of elasticity, the slope of stress–strain
9, respectively. As can be seen in the figures, the correlation coef-
curve at one third point of ultimate strength, was evaluated. The
ficients for compressive strength-splitting tensile strength and
modulus of elasticity evaluated is presented in Table 10. As can
compressive strength-flexural strength were as high as 0.98 and
be seen in the result, the modulus of elasticity ranged from
0.96, respectively, which implies that the results of regression
2.70  104 to 3.56  104 MPa, and the value tended to increase as
analysis were statistically highly confident. This finding also indi-
the MAA content and curing temperature increase. The obtained
cates that the splitting tensile strength and flexural strength could
modulus was higher than the polymer concrete with compressive
be reasonably estimated using the derived regression equations
strength of 98 MPa (2.5  104 MPa) [22], but was lower than the
once the compressive strength is given.
high strength cement concrete with compressive strength of 98–
127 MPa (4.10  104 to 4.48  104 MPa) [30].
3.4.2. Evaluation of strength ratio The result of regression analysis to identify the correlation be-
In order to identify the relationship among the compressive tween the modulus of elasticity and compressive strength is shown
strength, splitting tensile strength, and flexural strength, the aver- in Fig. 11. As seen in the result, as the compressive strength in-
age strength ratios were evaluated, and the results are summarized creases, the modulus of elasticity tended to increase. Based on
in Table 9. As seen in the result, the ratios of the splitting tensile the derived regression equation, the modulus of elasticity of acrylic
strength to compressive strength (so-called coefficient of brittle- polymer concrete could be reasonably predicted when the com-
ness) and the flexural strength to compressive strength were pressive strength is given within the specified range: 80–110 MPa.
12.5% and 22.6% on average, respectively.
These obtained strength ratios were compared with the results 3.5.2. Poisson’s ratio
from portland cement concrete [28]. In the case of cement con- Fig. 12 shows the relationship between the longitudinal strain
crete, the splitting tensile strength-compressive strength ratios and the corresponding lateral strain for different MAA contents
were 9% and 7% when the compressive strengths were 19.6 and and curing temperatures. According to the result, the maximum
678 S.-W. Son, J.H. Yeon / Construction and Building Materials 37 (2012) 669–679

Fig. 12. Lateral–longitudinal strain curves from cylindrical specimen: (a) 20 °C; (b) 0 °C; (c) 20 °C.

lateral strain for each case was between 0.0011 and 0.0022, which
Table 11 is similar with the lateral strain of high strength concrete with
Poisson’s ratio obtained from lateral–longitudinal strain curves.
compressive strength of 98–127 MPa (0.0010–0.0017) [30].
Curing temperature (°C) MAA content (phr) Poisson’s ratio (–) Table 11 summarizes the Poisson’s ratio calculated based on the
20 5 0.24 lateral and longitudinal strains presented in Fig. 12. The calculated
10 0.25 Poisson’s ratio ranged from 0.21 to 0.26, and these values were
15 0.26 comparable to the Poisson’s ratio of polymer concrete with com-
0 5 0.22 pressive strength of 98 MPa (0.22) [22] and the high strength con-
10 0.25 crete with compressive strength of 55–78 MPa (0.20–0.28) [30].
15 0.26
The result indicated that the Poisson’s ratio increases as the MAA
20 5 0.21 content and curing temperature increase. However, it is interesting
10 0.24
to note that the Poisson’s ratio was fixed to 0.26 for all the curing
15 0.26
temperatures when the MAA content was 15 phr.
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4. Conclusions [4] Gorninski JP, Dal Molin DC, Kazmieierczak CS. Study of the modulus of
elasticity of polymer concrete compounds and comparative assessment of
polymer concrete and portland cement concrete. Cem Concr Res
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