Construction and Building Materials
Construction and Building Materials
highlights
The toughness and the shrinkage performance of ORM were studied by orthogonal test.
An exponential function relation exists between shrinkage ratio and the shrinkage time.
Run test was used to verify the shrinkage model of ORM.
It has significant cracking resistance and toughening effects on ORM.
Article history: The influence of dually mixing of polymer latex powder and polypropylene fiber on the toughness and the shrinkage of the
Received 18 February 2020 overlay repair mortar (ORM), was investigated. To this end, the L 9(34) orthogonal test scheme was designed to evaluate the
Received in revised form 6 August 2020 strength, the ratio of flexural strength to compressive strength (RFSCS), and shrinkage ratio of the mortar at different ages and
Accepted 9 August 2020 to optimize the mix parameters of ORM with minimum shrinkage, high toughness and strength. Fitting and regression analysis
were conducted to establish the shrinkage model of ORM, and the significance was assessed by a run test. The results indicate
that the latex powder and the polypropylene fiber can significantly improve the toughness, but weaken the strength of the
Keywords: mortar to some extent. The exponential relation between the shrinkage ratio and time is significant at a significance level of a
Overlay repair mortar (ORM) = 0.01. The comprehensive performance of the mortar of prioritizing the volume stability is optimal when the amount of
Polymer latex powder polymer is 2.5%, length of the fiber is 9 mm, amount of the fiber is 0.2%, and content of silica fume is 2.5%. Moreover, it is
Polypropylene fiber
suitable to be used as an overlay repair material for concrete pavements.
Toughness
Shrinkage performance 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Run test
[11], numerous researchers have found that polymer-modified Polymer latex powder (hereinafter referred to as latex powder):
cement materials have numerous various advantages, including Latex powder 5044 N produced by WACKER, Germany;
improved machinability, bond strength, water resistance, tensile Silicon powder: produced by Aiken of Norway, with a specific
strength, and many other advantages of cement-based materials surface area of 18000 m2/kg and an activity index (28 d) of 121%;
[12]. Among them, Zhang et al. [13] studied the effects of the Fiber: polypropylene fiber, with a circular cross-section and
changes in the superabsorbent polymer content and the particle size lengths of 6 mm, 9 mm, and 12 mm.
range on the long-term drying shrinkage and self-shrinkage
properties of a cement mortar. They also discussed the effect 2.2. Test plan
mechanism of the superabsorbent polymer on the shrinkage
properties of the cement mortar. The results showed that the
In the experiment, the L9 (34) orthogonal test method was
superabsorbent polymer could significantly improve the long-term
used, in which the water-to-gel ratio was 0.5 and the latex
drying shrinkage of the cement mortar under various humidity
powder-tosand ratio was 1/2.5. The amounts of the latex powder
conditions. Wang [14] introduced the effects of a redispersible
and silicon powders were calculated as the ratios of their
latex powder on the working performance, mechanical properties,
individual masses to the total mass of the cementitious material
and durability of a cement mortar. The changes in the macroscopic
in percentage. The amount of the fiber was calculated by the
properties and microstructure of cement-based materials caused by
volume percentage, and its orthogonal plan and mix ratio are
polymers are mainly because of the formation of a polymer film
listed in Table 1.
structure and its interaction with the hydration and hardening
process of the cement paste [15]. Polymer-modified mortars can be
used for finishing or repairing mortars, particularly for bridges and 2.3. Test method
runways exposed to extreme environments [16]. The commonly
used mortar latex polymers are mainly emulsions and latex The strength and shrinkage (expansion) of the mortar were
powders, and among them, styrene-butadiene rubber latex can tested according to ‘‘Test method for the strength of cement
effectively improve the shrinkage properties, toughness, tensile mortar” GB / T17671-1999 and ‘‘Testing Standard for Basic
strength, and wear resistance of cement-based composites [17,18], Performance of Building Mortar” JGJ / T70-2009, respectively.
and therefore, it can be used as a modifier in repair mortars. After 3 d of standard curing, the contracted test pieces were
Polypropylene fibers can effectively inhibit the shrinkage strain placed in the standard environment (relative humidity of 60%,
of a polymer-modified mortar and improve its toughness [19–23]. temperature of 20 C) and the natural environment (outdoor
Huang [24] used different amounts of polypropylene fibers to test natural environment in Yinchuan, the average temperature is
the penetration, compressive strength, and flexural strength of the 15–28 C, the temperature difference between day and night is
benchmark cement mortar. The optimal blending amount of the large, and the relative humidity is 36%–47%). The shrinkage
polypropylene fibers was determined by the folding ratio, to values of each group of specimens were measured at 1 d, 3 d, 7
synthesize a compensating shrinkage mortar. The mechanism of a d, 14 d, 28 d, 45 d, 60 d, 90 d, and 120 d. The shrinkage
polymer and polypropylene fibers to improve the performance of performance of the mortar was characterized with the shrinkage
mortar involves the polymer mainly forming a continuous polymer as the index, and the volume stability of the mortar was
film structure on the mortar, which can effectively absorb the observed.
energy when the mortar is stressed or contracts. This buffers the
stress concentration of the cracks under stress [25,26]. The 3. Results and discussion
elongation when of the polypropylene fibers break is longer than
that of only the mortar, and its elasticity modulus is small. 3.1. The ratio of flexural strength to compressive strength and
Therefore, when the mortar is stressed, the polypropylene fibers toughness
can effectively suppress the generation of large-area cracks and
reduce the stress concentration at the microcracks to improve the The strength test was conducted for each group of test pieces
effect of the mortar deformation performance [27,28]. However, at 28 d of curing age. The test results of the compressive
the bonding force between the polymer-reinforced fibers and the strength and the ratio of flexural strength to compressive
cement substrates does not pull the fibers from the section of the strength (RFSCS) are provided in Table 2, and the results of the
cement substrates when the mortar is subjected to stress, and analysis are summarized in Table 3.
therefore, the fibers can contribute fully to the effect [29]. Ordinary cement mortar or concrete is a brittle material, and
In this study, aiming at the deterioration and erosion of its RFSCS is generally 1/8–1/12. It can be seen from the values
concrete pavements, an overlay repair mortar was modified by in Table 2 that the RFSCS of the polymer latex powder fiber
compositing a polymer, fibers, and cement-based materials, and composite mortar is between 0.245 and 0.295, which is
named as polymer latex powder fiber composite mortar. The significantly larger than that of ordinary mortar or concrete.
toughness and shrinkage properties of the polymer rubber powder This indicates that the toughness is significantly improved,
fiber composite mortar were studied. The methods and the which is very favorable for a repair material for forming a
technical parameters for its performance optimization were concrete erosion layer.
clarified to provide a new technical reference for the overlay repair It can be noted from Table 3 that influence order of the
of concrete pavements. factors affecting the flexural and compression strengths is the
same: the most important factor is the latex powder, followed
by the fiber length, silicon powder content, and fiber content.
2. Experiment The flexural strength gradually decreases with the increase in
the rubber powder content, indicating that the rubber powder
2.1. Raw materials has a weakening effect on the flexural strength of mortar. In
comparison, the RFSCS exhibits an opposite trend to the
Cement: Saima brand P.O52.5R cement produced by Ningxia strength with the increase in the rubber powder, indicating that
Racehorse Industry Co., Ltd; the rubber powder effectively improves the toughness of the
Sand: Ningxia Qingtongxia Yellow River washed-sand with a mortar. The effect trends of the fiber length, fiber content, and
maximum particle size of 5 mm and a mud content of 2.0%;
J. Yang et al./ Construction and Building Materials 261 (2020) 120521 3
silica fume content on the two indicators are varied. In the mortar shrinkage and expansion meter. The average shrinkage
cross-section of the crushed mortar sample ratio of mortar specimens at different ages in two environments
Table 1
Orthogonal scheme and mix proportion of composite mortar.
3
Numbering Unidirectional dosage of each component/kg m
Mix proportion parameter
Latex powder content Fiber length (B)/ Fiber content Silicon powder content Polymer Fiber Cement Sand Silicon Water
(A)/% mm (C)/% (D)/% powder
Z1 2.5(1) 6(1) 0.1(1) 0(1) 8.75 0.91 350.00 0.00 1500 280
Z2 2.5(1) 9(2) 0.2(2) 2.5(2) 8.75 1.82 341.25 8.75 1500 280
Z3 2.5(1) 12(3) 0.3(3) 5.0(3) 8.75 2.73 332.50 17.50 1500 280
Z4 5.0(2) 6(1) 0.2(2) 5.0(3) 17.50 1.82 332.50 17.50 1500 280
Z5 5.0(2) 9(2) 0.3(3) 0(1) 17.50 2.73 350.00 0.00 1500 280
Z6 5.0(2) 12(3) 0.1(1) 2.5(2) 17.50 0.91 341.25 8.75 1500 280
Z7 7.5(3) 6(1) 0.3(3) 2.5(2) 26.25 2.73 341.25 8.75 1500 280
Z8 7.5(3) 9(2) 0.1(1) 5.0(3) 26.25 0.91 332.50 17.50 1500 280
Z9 7.5(3) 12(3) 0.2(2) 0(1) 26.25 1.82 350.00 0.00 1500 280
Note: The letters and numbers in parentheses are numbering of the each factors and factors level, respectively.
Table 2
Strength and RFSCS of composite mortar at 28d.
Indicator Z1 Z2 Z3 Z4 Z5 Z6 Z7 Z8 Z9
Flexural strength /MPa 6.89 7.07 6.07 4.53 5.58 5.36 4.88 5.09 4.16
Compressive strength /MPa 27.56 28.62 23.62 16.90 20.36 19.42 18.35 19.65 14.10
RFSCS 0.250 0.247 0.257 0.268 0.274 0.276 0.266 0.259 0.295
Table 3
Range analysis of flexural strength and RFSCS of the mo rtar at 28d.
Indicator Factor K1 K2 K3 k1 k2 k3 R
Note: K1, K2, and K3 are the sums of the total efficiency coefficients at level 1, level 2, and level 3, respectively; k 1, k2, and k3 are the average values, respectively; R denotes
range. were calculated, as shown in Table 4.
The volume change of the specimen in natural environment
is caused by the three parts of the mortar self-shrinking,
(Fig. 1), the numerous randomly distributed fibers form a temperature and humidity, however, it is only the mortar self-
threedimensional support system in the mortar, which intersects shrinking due to the constant temperature and humidity in the
and nests with the gel powder hydration film layer. This not only standard environment. except for the Z3 group, the other groups
reduces the water bleeding of the mortar, prevents the sand from shrinkage ratio of mortar in natural environment at the 120th d
descending, improves the homogeneity of the mortar and other were larger than that of standard environment, however the
inherent properties but also prevents the early plastic cracking of absolute difference of shrinkage between the two environments
the mortar and significantly improves its toughness of the mortar. at this age was much smaller than that of shrinkage ratio under
standard environment, which indicate that the polymer latex
powder fiber composite mortar is mainly self-shrinking during
3.2. Shrinkage performance the measurement, while the temperature and humidity changes
will affect the shrinkage performance of that.
3.2.1. Relationship between shrinkage ratio and age According to the volume change results of each age of rubber
The shrinkage values of polymer latex powder fiber fiber composite mortar in Table 4, the relationship image of
composite mortar at various ages were tested by means of between age and volume change in standard environment and
4 J. Yang et al./ Construction and Building Materials 261 (2020) 120521
natural environment was drawn, as shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, 3.2.2. Shrinking model and parameter test
respectively Non-linear fitting of the relationship curve was carried out
Comparing Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, it can be seen that the relationship between shrinkage et and age t under standard environment, as
between the shrinkage ratio and age of each group of polymer latex
shown in Fig. 1, it was found that the relationship of et-t
powder fiber composite mortar shows different trends due to
conformed to the exponential function showns in Eq. (1) and the
different environments. The shrinkage ratio of the specimens in
correlation was significant, the correlation coefficient r > r0 .01
both environments increased significantly before the 28th d, after
(0.798), the fitted parameters and correlation coefficients are
that, the shrinkage ratio gradually flattened, and shrinkage
shown in Table 5.
basically stopped between 45d to 60d in standard environment, and
then the shrinkage ratio increased slowly. In natural environment,
et ¼ b1:expðt=b2Þþe0 ð1Þ
the volume of each group of the polymer latex powder fiber
composite mortar basically stabilized from the 45th day.
Table 4
Shrinkage ratio of composite mortar at different age.
Environment Numbering et / 10 -6
1d 3d 7d 14d 28d 45d 60d 90d 120d
Standard environment Z1 403 549 770 916 1137 1210 1210 1265 1320
Z2 183 330 586 696 879 989 989 1044 1099
Natural environment Z1 402 621 986 1242 1534 1534 1534 1480 1425
Z2 438 547 876 1132 1423 1532 1532 1532 1532
where et is shrinkage ratio at the age t, the unit is 10–6; t (>0) is where p is latex powder content, %; l is fiber length, mm; f is fiber
content, %; s is silica powder content, %.
the shrinkage age, the unit is d; e0 is a constant parameter; b1, b2
are regression coefficients, where the unit of b2 is d. The values of
3.2.3. Orthogonal analysis of shrinkage ratio
e0, b1 and b2 are related to the four factor parameters of concrete.
The range analysis of the shrinkage ratio of the test specimens
It can be seen form the regression analysis of the parameters at each age were carried out in standard environment, as shown in
b1, b2, and e0 that the relationship between them and fiber Table 7.
Z1 1263.598 1038.204 895.754 13.903 0.997 0.995 significantly significantly
Z2 5
Table 1542.073 1467.887 13.998 12.535 0.993 0.997 significantly significantly
877.845
Z3 parameters and correlation test.
Fitted 1506.517 1514.331 13.664 0.979 0.997 significantly significantly
Z4 1224.701 1358.821 963.273 23.868 0.992 0.994 significantly significantly
Z5
Numbering 1505.863
Model parameters 13.804 0.996
Correlation significantly
1184.903
Z6 13.168
e0 b
953.429
1 b2 r
Z7 15.085
Z8 1115.344 14.930 a = 0.01
Z9
1095.165
1133.049
1146.414
content, fiber length, latex powder content, and silicon powder
content can be expressed by formula (2), formula (3), and
formula (4), respectively. As the run test shows that the
statistics of the total number UN1, UN2, and UN3 are all
greater than the critical value CN = 7 at significant level a =
0.05, so there is no significant difference between predicted
values of the parameters b1, b2, and e0 and fitted values.
Regression equations of the three can be used to calculate the
relevant parameters of the shrinkage model of polypropylene
fiber composite latex powder modified concrete, the run test
results are shown in Table 6.
Table 6
Runs test of the parameters e0, b1 and b2.
Table 7 shows that except for the fiber length (B), the influence
order of the other three factors on the volume change of mortar
varies with each other in the standard environment. Therefore,
with 120d range value as the basis for the order of each factor,
because RB > RD > RA > RC, the fiber length t (B) in this
environment
Table R
7 ange analysis of shrinkage ratio of mortar specimens under standard condition.
Factor Analysis parameters et/10-6
1d 3d 7d 14d 28d 45d 60d 90d 120d
is considered to have the most important effect on the volume Jiansen Yang was responsible for the acquisition of the
change of the mortar, followed by the silicon powder content (D), funding sources, determination of the experimental protocols,
next comes the latex powder content (A), and last by the fiber strict control of the experimental process, collation of the test
content (C). With the fiber length continue increase, the shrinkage data, analysis of the experimental process, and writing of the
ratio increases on 1st day, and then first decreases and then manuscript. Rui Wang aided the implementation of the entire
increases at each age, the shrinkage ratio is the smallest when the experimental process, analyzed and verified the test results, and
fiber length is 9 mm. With the increase of silica fume content, the modified and developed the final paper. Yuanyuan Zhang was
shrinkage ratio of each age decreases first and then increases, and it responsible for the revision and supervision of the thesis and the
is the smallest at level 2, which indicates that the optimum amount writing of a part of the manuscript.
of silica fume content on the volume of latex powder composite
mortar is 2.5%. The shrinkage ratio of each age increases first and
Declaration of Competing Interest
then decreases with the increase of latex powder content, it is the
largest at level 2, which indicates that the volume change of mortar
The authors declare that they have no known competing
is the largest when the latex powder content is 5%. It decreases
financial interests or personal relationships that could have
first and then increases with the fiber content increases, and is the
appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
lowest at level 2, which indicates that it is most beneficial to the
stability of the mortar volume when the optimal fiber content is
0.2%. Acknowledgments
To sum up, with 120d shrinkage ratio as indicator, it can be
clearly obtained from the trend curve of the influence of changes of The authors gratefully acknowledge the support provided by
various factors on the shrinkage ratio of mortar in Fig. 4, The the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.
preparation plan for the smallest volume shrinkage of polymer 51568056) and the authors would also like to thank the teachers
powder fiber composite mortar is A1B2C2D2, which happens to of the Structural Engineering Laboratory of the School of Civil
be Z2 group in orthogonal test scheme, and it can be seen from Fig. and Hydraulic Engineering of Ningxia University for their
1 that its volume changes during the entire testing age is also the guidance on our experiment.
smallest, meanwhile, Table 2 shows that the strength and
toughness of that are also good. Fig. 3 shows that the shrinkage References
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