Effects of Temperature and Moisture on Concrete-PCM Interface Performance

Abstract

There is a lack of study on effects of temperature and moisture on concrete-polymer cementitious mortar (PCM) interface mechanical properties. This paper briefly introduces the outcomes of two studies; one on effects of exposure with elevated temperature and moisture and the other with freezing and thawing temperature cycles and moisture. The former show that there are significant effects of elevated temperature on both tensile and shear bond strength and that there are small effects of moisture. The bond strength can be estimated by the proposed formula with a function of constituent material strengths after the exposure. On the other hand, the latter show that the tensile bond strength decreases with freeze thaw cycles (FTC), although PCM does not show the reduction with FTC. It is considered that the tensile bond strength reduction is caused by moisture effects on the interface.