Flexural rigidity and ductility of high-strength reinforced polyester polymer concrete beams

Abstract

The structural behaviours were analysed for reinforced polymer concrete. The analysis included load-deflection and moment-curvature responses, ductility index, and flexural rigidity. Ductility indexes computed on the basis of deflections and curvatures were higher than those of high-strength cement concrete. The prediction equation for the effective moment of inertia proposed by ACI 318 is not applicable to high-strength polymer concrete, because the ACI 318 equation does not reflect the high effective moment of inertia of high-strength polymer concrete. Therefore, an empirical equation was proposed to estimate the effective moment of inertia of simply supported reinforced polymer concrete beams. The predicted deflections using the proposed formula agree well with the experimental deflections of the tested polymer concrete beams.