Open AccessInvestigation of the Optimal Percentage from Polyvinyl Alcohol on Flexural Strength of Cement Mortar Composite
Author(s) -
Waleed A. Abbas,
Iqbal N. Korkess,
H Mahdi Jasim
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
international journal of engineering and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2227-524X
DOI - 10.14419/ijet.v7i4.20.26423
Subject(s) - flexural strength , mortar , materials science , polyvinyl alcohol , composite material , portland cement , absorption of water , curing (chemistry) , composite number , cement
Polyvinyl alcohol solution(PVA) proveded potential enhancement of the properties of cement mortar composite. This work investigated the effect of (w/c) and polymer-cement ratios (p/c) on the flexural strength of type I Portland cement mortar. A sand-cement ratio (s/c) of 1.25 and 0.5 by mass was used, and PVA powder was dispersed in water at (0.7%, 1%, 2%, and 3%) by weight of cement. The p/c solution was adjusted at five different values of 0.008, 0.012, 0.016, 0.020 and 30% covering relatively low and high values. Two types of curing were used; wet and dry curing. The study results demonstrated that flexural strength and significant water absorption properties of Portland cement mortar, as well as workability can be basically enhanced by the addition of PVA. Composite was prepared with optimum (p/c) 1.6% at concentration of 1% by mass under dry curing. The highest flexural strength was above twice the flexural strength of unmodified mortar. Also modified mortar samples illustrated that increasing of (p/c) causes reducing water absorption due to the packing effect caused by PVA, while mortar prepared at 0.1 and 0.3 w/c and (p/c) respectively, exhibited an increase in flexural strength which was more than the strength of unmodified mortar.