Adhesion test for epoxy reinforcing using waste materials applied on concrete surfaces

There are several methods currently used to protect concrete; among the most prominent of these is surface coating. Different types of materials, as well as various coating methods, are used for the purposes of protection and to strengthen the concrete surface; however, universally agreed criteria for the selection of these materials has not yet been established. This work thus aims to investigate the effects of reinforcing epoxy by using waste material (glass or porcelain) to prepare particulate composites as a form of coating material.

Pull-off adhesion tests using controlled concrete specimens are one of the most common methods used to reveal the durability of surface coating systems. This method was thus also adopted for the current work. Samples with and without filler were exposed to hardness and pull off tests to determine the effect of adding the filler content to the epoxy in terms of variation to its properties. Epoxy was reinforced with filler with a 90-micron particle size. Composites of epoxy with varying percentages (0 to 40 wt%) of filler were prepared using a hand lay-up method. The experimental results showed that the addition of waste filler promotes adhesion properties. The 40% percentage of porcelain in the epoxy the largest effect on pull-off strength and hardness tests, reaching 16.12 MPa and 98.62, respectively. For glass composites, the highest hardness result was 97.92 for the 40% percentage.

The final results showed a general improvement in the adhesion properties of composites when glass and porcelains were added, with the porcelain results being much better than those of glass. These results achieved the objective of the current work in terms of developing a better coating material for concrete substrates used for construction applications with reduced costs.