Polymer-Cement Concretes for Field Construction

Polymer-cement concrete (PCC) is prepared by integrally mixing water solutions or emulsions of polymers or polymerizable components of monomers with cement and aggregate. The introduction of various organic materials to concrete mixtures has been tried, but up to 1973 only preliminary results have been reported in the literature. The most commonly used polymers for this purpose have been aqueous suspensions of polymers, e.g., polyvinyl thermoplastics or latexes. Water solutions of polymers, such as certain thermosetting resins, or polymerizable components of monomer systems, e.g., epoxies, have also been tried. Under the best conditions compressive strength improvements over comparable plain concrete of approx. 50% have been reported with relatively high polymer concentrations of 30% or more. In many cases materials poorer than the plain concrete were obtained. This was explained by the fact that the organic materials applied interfered with the hydration process of the cement.