Behaviour of Cement and Polymer Mortar Materials to Rapid Freeze-Thaw Cycling

The aim of this investigation work is threefold: I) To analyse and quantify freeze-thaw resistance of glass fibre reinforced epoxy polymer mortars, comparatively to both normal cement mortars and plain epoxy polymer mortars; 2) To determine glass fibre reinforcement effect on freeze-thaw behaviour; and 3) To evaluate the reliability of ASTM C666M-03 test methodology for the assessment of freeze-thaw resistance of polymer concrete materials. For this purpose several test specimens, normal cement mortars, plain and glass-fibre reinforced epoxy polymer mortars were submitted to freeze-thaw cycling between 36 up to 300 cycles, according to the above norm. Dynamic elasticity modulus, with basis on fundamental resonance frequency measurements, was calculated every 36 cycles, and the correspondent relative dynamic elasticity modulus was determined for each cycling period. In order to assess the reliability of this non-destructive test methodology, three specimens of each formulation were withdrawn at regular periods and tested in bending and compression. Relative mechanical strengths, as function of conditioning period, were compared with corresponding relative dynamic modulus of elasticity.