Polymer-impregnated concrete as a structural material

Synopsis Polymer-impregnated concrete (PIC) impregnated with the most often used polymers, polymethyl methacrylate and polystyrene, shows little ductility. The ultimate strength is often three to four times higher than that of ordinary concrete, but failure comes without warning in a brittle, almost explosive manner. This paper reports an investigation designed to increase the ductility of PIC so that some plastic yielding can take place before and after the ultimate load is reached. Various percentages of monomer combinations of the methyl methacrylate were used with an elastomer, n-butyl-acrylate. The entire stress-strain relationship of the materials was determined by means of the splitting tensile and axial compression tests. The investigation shows that PIC can be modified to give either a material with high strength and little ductility or one with a somewhat lower strength and large ductility. Thus potentially material properties can be tailored to particular structural service requirements.