1. Printing: This poster is 48” wide by 36” high. It’s designed to be printed on a large-format printer. Customizing the Content: The placeholders in this poster are formatted for you. Type in the placeholders to add text, or click an icon to add a table, chart, SmartArt graphic, picture or multimedia file. To add or remove bullet points from text, click the Bullets button on the Home tab. If you need more placeholders for titles, content or body text, make a copy of what you need and drag it into place. PowerPoint’s Smart Guides will help you align it with everything else. Want to use your own pictures instead of ours? No problem! Just click a picture, press the Delete key, then click the icon to add your picture. Reinforcing Concrete Composites Problem / Question There are several ways we can improve the physical properties of materials, more specifically concrete. The common question is how much of any ratio will yield the highest improvement of physical properties Hypothesis We will conduct three different test of 6 fillers in epoxy at different percentages. Our control subject will be pure epoxy. After testing we will select the best filler to polymer ratio to add to a concrete matrix. In using a polymer composite in a concrete matrix we can reduce fluid loss and crack propagation, increase abrasion and chemical resistance, and other mechanical properties. Past studies on fillers in composites show that between 10 – 30% we can yield higher physical properties Smaller particles with higher densities should yield us the highest improvements in physical properties Project Overview The four test will consist of Three Point Bending – Flexural Modulus and Peak Load are given in this test. Samples are made in accordance with astm standards. A load is then applied till failure. HCL Bath Degradation – Weight loss from an Acid can be seen in this test. Samples should degrade in weight as they are left in an Hydrochloric Bath. After 4, 9, 16, and 25 days the samples are weighed and recorded Compression Testing – We can get the peak load, peak stress, and compression modulus from this test. Abrasion Testing – Weight loss from consistent abrasion is measured in this test Samples are made from astm standard molds so that all samples have the same and comparable size. 10 – 50% of each filler was then added to epoxy then tested. Variables / Research SEM (scanning electron microscope) photos can give us an idea of how the composites will respond to mechanical testing. All materials are at 50% filler composition. Materials Particle SizeDensity Silica Fume0.15 μm2.2 – 2.3 Furnace Slag500 μm2.94 Fly Ash0.5 µm to 300 µm2.38 – 2.65 Boron10 μm2.52 Natural Sand62.5 μm 2.8 – 3.2 Marble Powder11 μm2.7 Data Results Conclusion We can conclude from the test results that increase amounts of filler tend to increase the percent of mass loss in an acidic bath. Fly ash and silica fume are exceptions to this rule. For three point bending we can see that between 10 and 30 % filler composition in the composite that we have increased physical properties. As for compression testing we can see that peak load and stress are increased between 30 and 50% but so does the density of the material. The lower particle size and higher density we have, the higher the compression and flexural modulus. Density and particle size together as a factor also effect peak load and stress. We can utilize the information from these test to compose a material with high flexural modulus, compression modulus, and least weight degradation in an acidic bath. Witold Brostow, Nonso Chetuya, Kaylie Sheehan, Nathalie Hnatchuk University of North Texas, Materials Science and Engineering Department, Denton, USA Laboratory of Advanced Polymers and Optimized Materials (LAPOM) Boron Powder Fly Ash Furnace Slag Marble Powder Natural SandPure EpoxySilica Fume 3 Point Bend Test Results Compression Test Results HCL Bath Degradation Results