Authors:

Logan Mick

Date Created:

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About Paper:

Hydrogels act as an internal curing agent within high performance mortar by absorbing water large amounts of water during mixing and releasing this water during curing to improve strength and reduce shrinkage. Past work focuses on the use of super absorbent polymer (SAP) hydrogels for this purpose, while this work intends to explore the use of a new novel hydrogel composition, composed of cross-linked acrylic acid, and its effects on the mechanical properties and microstructure of mortar. To test this high-performance mortar samples of varying hydrogel concentrations were made to test the compressive strength along with the flexural strength, after multiple time intervals of curing. These tests showed an increase in mechanical properties within the hydrogel samples, with a 20% increase in compressive strength. Fragments from these tests were analyzed with SEM and other microscopy methods, to better understand the interactions between the cement matrix and the crosslinked polymer, and how the intertwined network can better improve flexural and compressive strength in the mortar. This research begins the study of a new hydrogel additive in concrete to classify its effectiveness, where future research will center around the internal effects on thermal properties, shrinkage, and absorptivity in concrete. Keywords: Concrete; Hydrogels; Internal Curing

Source:

Purdue University / 2024

Topics:

No topics listed

Co-authors:

Logan Mick