The Effect of the Carbon Fiber Content on the Flexural Strength of Polymer Concrete Testing Samples and the Comparison of Polymer Concrete and U-Shaped Steel Profile Damping

Abstract

This article explores the effect of carbon fiber content on the flexural strength of polymer concrete testing samples and compares the damping of polymer concrete and U-shaped steel profiles. The experiments involved and described herein consisted of flexural strength testing according to STN EN 12 390-5 Testing of Hardened Concrete, Part 5: Flexural Strength of Test Samples. The test results were evaluated graphically and by calculations and were further processed in various programs. The experimental results indicated that the highest flexural strength value was obtained by the test samples containing 12% of carbon fibers while culminating at 17.9 MPa. The results showed that the highest increase of flexural strength was caused by the addition of 3% of carbon fibers to the mixture, which increased the flexural strength by 4.2 MPa, or 26.75%. The results indicated that, based on the shape of the regression curve, flexural strength culminated at 13% carbon fiber content. The experimental results demonstrated that the tested polymer concrete test sample had a 6.87 times higher attenuation coefficient than the U-shaped steel profile. The results showed that the polymer concrete test sample No. 4 reduced vibration acceleration deviation by 93.5% in 0.005 sec and the U-shaped steel profile by 32.9%.