Effects of Curing Regime and Binders on Polymeric Concrete

This report will generally discuss on the progress and basic understanding on selected
Final Year Project (FYP) title which is Effects of Curing Regime and Binders on
Polymeric Concrete. Portland cement concrete has been widely used as construction
materials. However, the impact of cement production on environment has become one of
the most challenging issues. Therefore, it is essential to introduce new technologies and
practices for alternative cement in order to curtail the rising C02 emissions caused by
increased Portland cement production and solve serious disposal problems of by-product
materials such as fly ash, silica fume and rice husk ash. Furthermore, this new technology
will slow down the depletion of raw material mainly limestone used for cement
production. This research has been conducted to determine the optimum mix proportion
of polymeric concrete incorporating fly ash, MIRHA and silica fume. Besides, in order to
get a standard curing method in cast in situ polymeric concrete, this research used
different curing regime namely hot gunny, ambient and external exposure curing and
focused on determining the compressive strength, flexural strength and tensile strength.
This research utilized low-calcium (ASTM Class F) fly ash, MIRHA and silica fume as
the source materials in producing polymeric concrete. While for the alkaline solution, this
research utilized sodium hydroxide, NaOH and sodium silicate, Na2Si~. As the outcome
of this research, it can be concluded that fly ash, MIRHA and silica fume together with
alkaline solution (Sodium Hydroxide, NaOH and Sodium Silicate, NazSi~) can be a
good replacement of cement in concrete and external exposure curing is the best curing
regime for cast in situ polymeric concrete.