Polymer concrete was introduced in the late 1950s and became well known in the 1970s for its use in repair, thin overlays and floors, and precast components. Because of its properties like high compressive strength, fast curing, high specific strength, and resistance to chemical attacks polymer concrete has found application in very specialized domains. Simultaneously these materials have been used in machine construction also where the vibration damping property of polymer concrete has been exploited. This review deals with the efforts of various researchers in selection of ingredients, processing parameters, curing conditions, and their effects on the mechanical properties of the resulting material. 1. Introduction Polymer concrete is a composite material which results from polymerization of a monomer/aggregate mixture. The polymerized monomer acts as binder for the aggregates and the resulting composite is called “Concrete.” The developments in the field of polymer concrete date back to the late 1950s when these materials were developed as replacement of cement concrete in some specific applications. Early usage of polymer concrete has been reported for building cladding and so forth. Later on because of rapid curing, excellent bond to cement concrete and steel reinforcement, high strength, and durability, it was extensively used as repair material [1]. Precast polymer concrete has been used to produce a variety of products like acid tanks, manholes, drains, highway median barriers, and so forth. The properties of polymer concrete differ greatly depending on the conditions of preparation. For a given type of polymer concrete, the properties are dependent upon binder content, aggregate size distribution, nature and content of the microfiller, curing conditions, and so forth [2]. The most commonly used resins for polymer concrete are unsaturated polyester resin, methyl methacrylate, epoxy resins, furan resins, polyurethane resins, and urea formaldehyde resin [3]. Generally, more than 75–80% volume in polymer concrete is occupied by the aggregates and fillers. The aggregates are normally taken as inert materials dispersed throughout the polymer matrix. Normally aggregates are added in two size groups, that is, coarse aggregates comprising material of more than 5？mm size and fine aggregates having size less than 5？mm. The grading of aggregates in the case of polymer concrete is nonstandardized till date and varies widely from system to system. In addition to the coarse and fine aggregates, microfillers are also added sometimes to the polymer concrete
References
[1]
D. W. Fowler, “Polymers in concrete: a vision for the 21st century,” Cement and Concrete Composites, vol. 21, no. 5-6, pp. 449–452, 1999.
[2]
E. Kirlikovali, “Polymer/concrete composites—a review,” Polymer Engineering & Science, vol. 21, no. 8, pp. 507–509, 1981.
[3]
Y. Ohama, “Recent progress in concrete-polymer composites,” Advanced Cement Based Materials, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 31–40, 1997.
[4]
M. Gunasekaran, “Polymer concrete: a versatile, low-cost material for Asian electrical infrastructure systems,” in Proceedings of the IEEE International Symposium on Electrical Insulation, pp. 356–361, April 2000.
[5]
A. Pratap, “Vinyl ester and acrylic based polymer concrete for electrical applications,” Progress in Crystal Growth and Characterization of Materials, vol. 45, no. 1-2, pp. 117–125, 2002.
[6]
P. Koblischek, “Synthetic resin bound concrete,” in Proceedings of the 1st International Congress on Polymer Concretes—Polymers in Concrete, pp. 409–419, London, UK, 1975.
[7]
P. J. Koblischek, “MOTEMA-acrylic concrete for machine tool frames,” International Journal of Cement Composites and Lightweight Concrete, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 55–57, 1985.
[8]
P. A. McKeown and G. H. Morgan, “Epoxy granite: a structural material for precision machines,” Precision Engineering, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 227–229, 1979.
[9]
K. Paderewski, “Use of polymer concretes in machine tool construction,” Przeglad Mechaniczny, vol. 43, no. 13, pp. 12–15, 1984.
[10]
E. Saljé, H. Gerloff, and J. Meyer, “Comparison of machine tool elements made of polymer concrete and cast iron,” CIRP Annals, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 381–384, 1988.
[11]
H. Schulz and R. G. Nicklau, “Machine tool bases made of polymer concrete,” Werkstatt und Betrieb, vol. 114, no. 10, pp. 747–752, 1981.
[12]
H. Schulz and R.-G. Nicklau, “Design of machine tool frames using polymer concrete,” Werkstatt und Betrieb, vol. 115, no. 5, pp. 311–317, 1982.
[13]
H. Schulz and R.-G. Nicklau, “Designing machine tool structures in polymer concrete,” International Journal of Cement Composites and Lightweight Concrete, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 203–207, 1983.
[14]
M. Weck and R. Hartel, “Design, manufacture and testing of precision machines with essential polymer concrete components,” Precision Engineering, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 165–170, 1985.
[15]
M. C. Bignozzi, A. Saccani, and F. Sandrolini, “New polymer mortars containing polymeric wastes—part 2: dynamic mechanical and dielectric behaviour,” Composites A, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 205–211, 2002.
[16]
C. Bruni, A. Forcellese, F. Gabrielli, and M. Simoncini, “Hard turning of an alloy steel on a machine tool with a polymer concrete bed,” Journal of Materials Processing Technology, vol. 202, no. 1–3, pp. 493–499, 2008.
[17]
C. Bruni, A. Forcellese, F. Gabrielli, and M. Simoncini, “Effect of the lubrication-cooling technique, insert technology and machine bed material on the workpart surface finish and tool wear in finish turning of AISI 420B,” International Journal of Machine Tools and Manufacture, vol. 46, no. 12-13, pp. 1547–1554, 2006.
[18]
F. Cortés and G. Castillo, “Comparison between the dynamical properties of polymer concrete and grey cast iron for machine tool applications,” Materials & Design, vol. 28, no. 5, pp. 1461–1466, 2007.
[19]
S. Orak, “Investigation of vibration damping on polymer concrete with polyester resin,” Cement and Concrete Research, vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 171–174, 2000.
[20]
I. Tanabe and K. Takada, “Thermal deformation of machine tool structures using resin concrete,” JSME International Journal C, vol. 37, no. 2, pp. 384–389, 1994.
[21]
I. Tanabe, “Development of ceramic resin concrete for precision machine tool structure,” JSME International Journal C, vol. 36, no. 4, pp. 494–498, 1993.
[22]
G. Vrtanoski and V. Dukovski, “Design of polymer concrete main spindle housing for cnc lathe,” in Proceedings of 13th International Scientific Conference on Achievements of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, pp. 696–698, Gliwice, Poland, 2005.
[23]
J. P. Gorninski, D. C. Dal Molin, and C. S. Kazmierczak, “Strength degradation of polymer concrete in acidic environments,” Cement and Concrete Composites, vol. 29, no. 8, pp. 637–645, 2007.
[24]
P. Mani, A. K. Gupta, and S. Krishnamoorthy, “Comparative study of epoxy and polyester resin-based polymer concretes,” International Journal of Adhesion and Adhesives, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 157–163, 1987.
[25]
C. Vipulanandan and N. Dharmarajan, “Flexural behavior of polyester polymer concrete,” Cement and Concrete Research, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 219–230, 1987.
[26]
H. Abdel-Fattah and M. M. El-Hawary, “Flexural behavior of polymer concrete,” Construction and Building Materials, vol. 13, no. 5, pp. 253–262, 1999.
[27]
A. J. M. Ferreira, “Flexural properties of polyester resin concretes,” Journal of Polymer Engineering, vol. 20, no. 6, pp. 459–468, 2000.
[28]
M. Ribeiro, C. M. L. Tavares, M. Figueiredo, A. J. M. Ferreira, and A. A. Fernandes, “Bending characteristics of resin concretes,” Materials Research, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 247–254, 2003.
[29]
M. C. S. Ribeiro, P. R. Nóvoa, A. J. M. Ferreira, and A. T. Marques, “Flexural performance of polyester and epoxy polymer mortars under severe thermal conditions,” Cement and Concrete Composites, vol. 26, no. 7, pp. 803–809, 2004.
[30]
Y. Ohama, “Mix proportions and properties of Polyester Resin Concretes,” American Concrete Institute, pp. 283–294, 1973.
[31]
K. S. Rebeiz, “Precast use of polymer concrete using unsaturated polyester resin based on recycled PET waste,” Construction and Building Materials, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 215–220, 1996.
[32]
J. M. Laredo Dos Reis, “Mechanical characterization of fiber reinforced Polymer Concrete,” Materials Research, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 357–360, 2005.
[33]
J. M. L. Reis, “Fracture and flexural characterization of natural fiber-reinforced polymer concrete,” Construction and Building Materials, vol. 20, no. 9, pp. 673–678, 2006.
[34]
K. Kobayashi and T. Ito, “Several physical properties of resin concrete,” in Proceedings of the 1st International Congress on Polymer Concretes—Polymers in Concrete, pp. 236–240, London, UK, 1975.
[35]
K. Okada, W. Koyanagi, and T. Yonezawa, “Thermo dependent properties of polyester resin concrete,” in Proceedings of 1st International Congress on Polymer Concretes—Polymers in Concrete, pp. 210–215, London, UK, 1975.
[36]
R. D. Maksimov, L. Jirgens, J. Jansons, and E. Plume, “Mechanical properties of polyester polymer-concrete,” Mechanics of Composite Materials, vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 99–110, 1999.
[37]
K. T. Varughese and B. K. Chaturvedi, “Fly ash as fine aggregate in polyester based polymer concrete,” Cement and Concrete Composites, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 105–108, 1996.
[38]
W. Bai, J. Zhang, P. Yan, and X. Wang, “Study on vibration alleviating properties of glass fiber reinforced polymer concrete through orthogonal tests,” Materials & Design, vol. 30, no. 4, pp. 1417–1421, 2009.
[39]
C. Vipulanandan, N. Dharmarajan, and E. Ching, “Mechanical behaviour of polymer concrete systems,” Materials and Structures, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 268–277, 1988.
[40]
J. P. Gorninski, D. C. Dal Molin, and C. S. Kazmierczak, “Study of the modulus of elasticity of polymer concrete compounds and comparative assessment of polymer concrete and portland cement concrete,” Cement and Concrete Research, vol. 34, no. 11, pp. 2091–2095, 2004.
[41]
K. S. Rebeiz, S. P. Serhal, and A. P. Craft, “Properties of polymer concrete using fly ash,” Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 15–19, 2004.
[42]
M. Bǎrbu？ǎ, M. Harja, and I. Baran, “Comparison of mechanical properties for polymer concrete with different types of filler,” Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, vol. 22, no. 7, pp. 696–701, 2010.
[43]
B.-W. Jo, S.-K. Park, and D.-K. Kim, “Mechanical properties of nano-MMT reinforced polymer composite and polymer concrete,” Construction and Building Materials, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 14–20, 2008.
[44]
K. S. Rebeiz and A. P. Craft, “Polymer concrete using coal fly ash,” Journal of Energy Engineering, vol. 128, no. 3, pp. 62–73, 2002.
[45]
K. S. Rebeiz, “Time-temperature properties of polymer concrete using recycled PET,” Cement and Concrete Composites, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 119–124, 1995.
[46]
M. E. Tawfik and S. B. Eskander, “Polymer concrete from marble wastes and recycled poly(ethylene terephthalate),” Journal of Elastomers and Plastics, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 65–79, 2006.
[47]
Y. Ohama and K. Demura, “Relation between curing conditions and compressive strength of polyester resin concrete,” International Journal of Cement Composites and Lightweight Concrete, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 241–244, 1982.
[48]
L. Kapasny, “Design of the optimum grading of aggregates for resin mortars,” in Proceedings of the International Symposium on Plastics in Material and Structural Engineering, pp. 306–310, 1982.
[49]
V. V. L. K. Rao and S. Krishnamoothy, “Aggregate mixtures for least-void content for use in polymer concrete,” Cement, Concrete and Aggregates, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 97–107, 1993.
[50]
M. Muthukumar, D. Mohan, and M. Rajendran, “Optimization of mix proportions of mineral aggregates using Box Behnken design of experiments,” Cement and Concrete Composites, vol. 25, no. 7, pp. 751–758, 2003.
[51]
P. Mani, A. K. Gupta, and S. Krishnamoorthy, “Some structural studies on polyester resin-concrete containing silane coupling agents,” Journal of Materials Science Letters, vol. 1, no. 11, pp. 467–470, 1982.
[52]
P. Mani, A. K. Gupta, and S. Krishnamoorthy, “Efficiency of some silane coupling agents and of the method of their application in polyester resin concrete,” Journal of Materials Science, vol. 18, no. 12, pp. 3599–3605, 1983.
[53]
B. Chmielewska, L. Czarnecki, J. Sustersic, and A. Zajc, “The influence of silane coupling agents on the polymer mortar,” Cement and Concrete Composites, vol. 28, no. 9, pp. 803–810, 2006.
[54]
A. K. Gupta, P. Mani, and S. Krishnamoorthy, “Interfacial adhesion in polyester resin concrete,” International Journal of Adhesion and Adhesives, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 149–154, 1983.
[55]
T. Broniewski, Z. Jamrozy, and J. Kapko, “Long life strength polymer concrete,” in Proceedings of the 1st International Congress on Polymer Concretes—Polymers in Concrete, pp. 179–184, London, UK, 1975.
[56]
R. Valore and D. J. Naus, “Resin bound aggregate material systems,” in Proceedings of the 1st International Congress on Polymer Concretes—Polymers in Concrete, pp. 216–222, London, UK, 1975.
[57]
T. W. Brockenbrough, “Fiber reinforced methacrylate polymer concrete,” ACI Journal, pp. 322–325, 1982.
[58]
C. Vipulanandan and S. Mebarkia, “Aggregates, fibers and coupling agents in polymer concrete,” in Proceedings of the 1st Materials Engineering Conference, pp. 785–794, Denver, Colorado, August 1990.
[59]
S. Mebarkia and C. Vipulanandan, “Compressive behavior of glass-fiber-reinforced polymer concrete,” Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 91–105, 1992.
[60]
K. Sett and C. Vipulanandan, “Properties of polyester polymer concrete with glass and carbon fibers,” ACI Materials Journal, vol. 101, no. 1, pp. 30–41, 2004.
[61]
P. Xu and Y.-H. Yu, “Research on steel-fibber polymer concrete machine tool structure,” Journal of Coal Science and Engineering, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 689–692, 2008.
[62]
C. Vipulanandan and E. Paul, “Performance of epoxy and polyester polymer concrete,” ACI Materials Journal, vol. 87, no. 3, pp. 241–251, 1990.
[63]
C. Vipulanandan and E. Paul, “Characterization of polyester polymer and polymer concrete,” Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 62–82, 1993.
[64]
M. Bǎrbu？ǎ and D. Lepǎdatu, “Mechanical characteristics investigation of polymer concrete using mixture design of experiments and response surface method,” Journal of Applied Sciences, vol. 8, no. 12, pp. 2242–2249, 2008.
[65]
M. Haidar, E. Ghorbel, and H. Toutanji, “Optimization of the formulation of micro-polymer concretes,” Construction and Building Materials, vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 1632–1644, 2011.
[66]
H. S. Kim, K. Y. Park, and D. G. Lee, “A study on the epoxy resin concrete for the ultra-precision machine tool bed,” Journal of Materials Processing Tech, vol. 48, no. 1-4, pp. 649–655, 1995.
[67]
J. D. Suh and D. G. Lee, “Design and manufacture of hybrid polymer concrete bed for high-speed CNC milling machine,” International Journal of Mechanics and Materials in Design, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 113–121, 2008.
[68]
K. Kobayashi, Y. Ohama, and T. Ito, “Fatigue Properties of Resin concrete under repeated compression loads,” Seisan Kenkyu, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 116–118, 1974.
[69]
G. Woelfl, M. McNerney, and C. Chang, “Flexural fatigue of polymer concrete,” Cement, Concrete and Aggregates, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 84–88, 1981.
[70]
J. T. McCall, “Probability of fatigue failure of plain concrete,” Journal of the American Concrete Institute, pp. 233–244, 1995.
[71]
C. Vipulanandan and S. Mebarkia, “Fatigue crack growth in polyester polymer concrete,” American Concrete Institute, pp. 153–168, 2001.
