Studies on effect of constituents on the damping performance of Epoxy Polymer

Concrete
Raman Bedi and Amritpreet Singh
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology,
Jalandhar. India
Email- bediraman74@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

In this study the damping property of the Epoxy Polymer Concrete is analyzed in relation to its composition
i.e. percentage of epoxy and percentage of Filler. Utilization of polymer concrete is gaining ground in various fields of
mechanical engineering e.g. machine tool beds and housings etc because of its excellent damping properties. Foundry
sand having a mean particle size in 300-450 μm range is used as the aggregate in Polymer Concrete. Twelve different
compositions are considered in which the percentage of epoxy resin is taken as 14%, 17%, 20% and 23% and the
percentage of Filler is taken as 4%, 8% and 12%. The testing of the prepared samples is performed using DMA
(Dynamic Mechanical Analyzer) technique. The damping of the prepared specimens is evaluated at 10, 30 and 50 Hz.
It is observed that epoxy percentage is most important factor affecting damping of Epoxy Polymer Concrete . As the
percentage of epoxy increases (From 14% to 20%) damping of polymer concrete increases, but shows a declining
trend on further increase. Increase in the filler percentage also shows an increasing trend in damping of polymer
concrete.
1. Introduction
Polymer Concrete is a composite material produced by mixing the polymer resin (which may
be a thermoplastic, but more frequently, it is a thermosetting polymer) with an aggregate. Polymer
Concrete has many fine properties such as higher strength, greater resistance to chemicals and
corrosive agents, lower water absorption and higher freeze-thaw stability [1]. Due to these
properties it is increasingly being used as an alternate to cement concrete in many applications
such as construction and repair of structures, highway pavements, bridge decks, waste water pipes
and even structural and decorative construction panels [2, 3, 4].
Researchers have paid very less attention to the damping property of Polymer Concrete which
has the tendency to widen the scope of Polymer Concrete in mechanical applications. High
damping is very important for structural materials, such as aviation, navigation, machineries and
constructions to absorb the harmful vibration or to minimize the amplitude to a safe level [5]. The
structural damping is one of the most important factors that determine the dynamical behavior of
machine tools and, consequently, it has influence on the machining capability [6].
2 Materials and Methods
The epoxy resin used in this study is Araldite LY 556 and hardener used is Aradur HY
951, supplied by Huntsman India Ltd. Foundry sand is used as the aggregate and calcium
carbonate (CaCO3) is used as the micro-filler in Polymer Concrete due to wide availability of these
materials. The particle size of foundry sand used is between 300 μm and 450 μm.

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 As the main aim of this study is to study the effect of composition of Polymer Concrete on
damping, percentage of Resin and percentage of micro-filler have been chosen as two variables in
this study. Percentage of epoxy resin is taken in the range of 14-23% with four levels (14%, 17%,
20% and 23%). The calcium carbonate (micro-filler) percentage is taken as 4%, 8% and 12% by
weight. The rest in the composition is the foundry sand having particle size between 300 μm and
450 μm. By using these percentages of epoxy and calcium carbonate, twelve compositions are
prepared by fixing one variable at a time and varying the other with it. These twelve compositions
are listed in Table 1.

S. Epoxy CaCO3 Tan δ

No (%) (%) 10 Hz 30 Hz 50 Hz
1. 14 4 0.0211 0.0234 0.0212
2. 14 8 0.0196 0.0238 0.0242
3. 14 12 0.0245 0.0256 0.0279
4. 17 4 0.0212 0.0257 0.0222
5. 17 8 0.0250 0.0258 0.0276
6. 17 12 0.0266 0.0275 0.0285
7. 20 4 0.0246 0.0271 0.0294
8. 20 8 0.0318 0.0302 0.0315
9. 20 12 0.0319 0.0328 0.0326
10. 23 4 0.0145 0.0184 0.0190
11. 23 8 0.0160 0.0179 0.0192
12. 23 12 0.0196 0.0185 0.0209

Mix Epoxy % CaCO3 %

Number by wt. by wt.
1. 14 4
2. 14 8
3. 14 12
4. 17 4
5. 17 8
6. 17 12
7. 20 4
8. 20 8
9. 20 12
10. 23 4
Table 2 Tan δ values for polymer concrete 11. 23 8
12. 23 12
Table 1 Compositions of Epoxy Concrete

Samples thus prepared were cured at room temperature for seven days. Post curing was done in
oven at 80-100˚C for 5 hours.
3. Results & Discussion
The testing of the prepared samples is performed using DMA (Dynamic Mechanical
Analyzer). Temperature scan is performed to check the proper curing of the specimens. The value
of Tg for all specimens lies between 116 ºC to 134 ºC.

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 Time Scan is carried out on specimens under three different frequencies for a time period of 25
minutes. Three samples are checked of each composition at 10 Hz, 30 Hz and 50 Hz of frequencies
and the average value of Tan δ on the time span of 25 minutes is considered and is shown in Table 2
for each sample.
Figures 1, 2 and 3 show the variation of Tan δ with variation in percentage of epoxy resin for fixed
percentage of calcium carbonate 4%, 8% and 12% respectively. Figures 4, 5, 6 and 7 show the
variation of Tan δ with variation in percentage of calcium carbonate for fixed percentage of epoxy
14%, 17%, 20% and 23 respectively.
It is evident from figures 1,2 and 3 that value of Tan δ increased as the percentage of epoxy
increased from 14 to 20% but it decreased as epoxy percentage reached to 23%. Figures 4,5 ,6 and
7 clearly show that value of Tan δ increased as the percentage of CaCO 3 is increased from 4 to
12%.

0.035
0.035
CaCO 3 4% CaCO 3 8%

0.03
0.03

0.025
0.025
Tan δ

Tan δ

0.02 0.02

0.015 0.015
10 Hz 30 Hz 50 Hz
10 Hz 30 Hz 50 Hz

0.01 0.01
14 17 20 23 14 17 20 23
Epoxy (%) Epoxy (%)

Figure 1 Tan δ variation of specimens having 4% CaCO3 Figure 2 Tan δ variation of specimens having 8% CaCO3

0.04 0.03
CaCO 3 12% Epoxy 14%
0.028
0.035
0.026

0.024
0.03
0.022
Tan δ

Tan δ

0.025 0.02

0.018
0.02
0.016

0.014
0.015 10 Hz 30 Hz 50 Hz
10 Hz 30 Hz 50 Hz 0.012

0.01 0.01
14 17 20 23 4 8 12
Epoxy (%) CaCO 3 (%)

Figure 3 Tan δ variation of specimens having 12% CaCO3 Figure 4 Tan δ variation of specimens having 14% epoxy

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 0.031 0.04
Epoxy 17% Epoxy 20%
0.029
0.035
0.027

0.025
0.03

Tan δ
Tan δ

0.023

0.025
0.021

0.019
0.02
0.017
10 Hz 30 Hz 50 Hz 10 Hz 30 Hz 50 Hz
0.015 0.015
4 8 12 4 8 12
CaCO3 (%) CaCO 3 (%)

Figure 5 Tan δ variation of specimens having 17% epoxy Figure 6 Tan δ variation of specimens having 20% epoxy

0.024
Epoxy 23%
0.022

0.02

0.018
Tan δ

0.016

0.014

0.012
10 Hz 30 Hz 50 Hz
0.01
4 8 12
CaCO 3 (%)

Figure 7 Tan δ variation of specimens having 24% epoxy

Damping ability of organic polymer composites mainly comes from the visco-elasticity of
different constituents. In case of Polymer Concrete it depends upon the visco-elasticity of epoxy
resin, CaCO3 (micro-filler) and foundry sand (aggregate).
As the resin content increases above 20% segregation occurs between resin and aggregate
which further decreases the damping ability of Polymer Concrete. Calcium carbonate was
introduced to improve the adherence properties between the epoxy resin and foundry sand which
in result causes the improvement in the damping ability of the Polymer Concrete.
4. Conclusions
Results show that epoxy proportion is most important factor affecting damping of the Polymer
concrete specimens. As the percentage of epoxy increases (From 14% to 20%) the damping
property of specimen increases. But it starts decreasing at 23%. The maximum value of Tan δ is
obtained at 20% epoxy by weight in the mixture. As CaCO3 percentage increases from 4% to 12%
the damping property of specimen increases. At higher frequencies the Tan δ value obtained is
higher (50Hz) than that obtained at lower frequencies (10Hz and 30Hz). So it can also be

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concluded that Polymer Concrete maintains the higher damping values in a quite large range of
frequencies.

References

1. Blaga A., Beaudoin J.J. (1985), “Polymer Modified Concrete”, CBD-242.

2. Ohama Y. (1992), “Advances in Concrete Technology”, Ed., V.M. Malhotra, Energy,
Mines & Resources, Ottawa, Canada, p.775-805.
3. ACI Comm. 548 (1986), “Guide for Use of Polymers in Concrete", ACI, Farmington
Hills, MI, USA, p.799-829.
4. Purisinski R.C. (1978), “Polymers in Concrete: International Symposium”, SP-58, ACI,
Farmington Hills, MI, USA, p.90-101.
5. Li S., Hu J., Song F. and Wang X. (1996), “Influence of Interface Modification and
Phase Separation on Damping Properties of Epoxy Concrete”, Cement and Concrete
Composites,18, PP. 445-453.
6. Cortes F. and Castillo G. (2007), “Comparison between the dynamical properties of
polymer concrete and grey cast iron for machine tool applications”, Materials and Design,28,
PP. 1461–1466.