Silica fume capitalisation for polymer concrete obtained: Multiple response optimizations of mechanical characteristics using RSM

The use of different types of waste for obtaining new building material is a possibility for capitalization the large quantities of wastes which result every year. Polymer concrete with additions continues to develop because in many situations by introducing fine materials in the mix, the properties can be improved and the cost is lower. The study presented in the paper investigates the mechanical properties of polymer concrete obtained with epoxy resin, aggregates and silica fume. The fifteen mix combinations of polymer concrete were obtained based on the method of mixture design of experiments. Compressive strength, flexural strength and split tensile strength were experimentally determined for all mixtures. Using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) the mechanical properties of PC were optimized. The obtained numerical results of mechanical strengths for the optimum composition were experimentally verified. The maximum values of mechanical characteristics were compared with that of polymer concrete without silica fume. The silica fume addition in polymer concrete has improved the flexural strength and split tensile strength, in comparison with the polymer concrete without addition.