ACI 548.1R-97 Guide for the Use of Polymers in Concrete Reported by ACI Committee 548 Members of the committee who voted on the original document David W. Fowler* Glen W. DePuy* Chairman Secretary Souad Al-Bahar Floyd E. Dimmick Lawrence E. Kukacka Charles R. McClaskey Allan F. Soderberg Hiram P. Ball, Jr. Arhtur M. Dinitz Joseph A. Lavelle Peter Mendis Rodney J. Stebbins John J. Bartholomew Wolfgang O. Eisenhut Dah-Yinn Lee Scott S. Pickard R. N. Swamy John Bukovatz† Larry J. Farrell V. Mohan Malhotra Sandor Popovics Alan H. Vroom Richard P. Chmiel Harold L. Fike John A. Manson* Ernest K. Schrader* David D. Watson John Chrysogelos, Jr. Jack J. Fontana* Darrell E. Maret† Surendra P. Shah Gerald A. Woelfl Thomas R. Clapp George C. Hoff* Henry N. Marsh, Jr.* W. Glenn Smoak* Robert L. Yuan James T. Dikeou* Louis A. Kuhlmann* * Members of the Committee who prepared this guide † Deceased Members of the committee who voted on the 1994 and 1995 revisions D. Gerry Walters Paul D. Krauss Chairman Secretary Phillip L. Andreas Larry J. Farrell Lou A. Kuhlmann Shreerang Nabar W. Glenn Smoak John J. Bartholomew Jack J. Fontana William Lee Michael J. O’Brien Joe Solomon Douglas J. Bolton David W. Fowler Henry N. Marsh, Jr. Sandor Popvics Micheal M. Sprinkel Gary Billiard Robert Gaul James Maass Kenneth A. Poss Baren K. Talukdar W. Barry Butler Arthur H. Gerber Stella L. Marusin John R. Robinson Cumaras Vipulanandan Robert R. Cain George C. Hoff William C. McBee Rockwell T. Rookey Alan H. Vroom Paul D. Carter Craig W. Johnson Joseph A. McElroy Emanuel J. Scarpinato Harold H. Weber Frank J. Constantino Albert O. Kaeding Peter Mendis Qizhong Sheng Ronald P. Webster Glenn W. DePuy John F. Kane John R. Milliron Donald A. Schmidt David P. Whitney Floyd E. Dimmick Mohammad S. Khan Richard Montani Ernest K. Schrader V. Yogendran William T. Dohner Al Klail Larry C. Muszynski Surendra P. Shah Janet L. Zuffa This Guide presents information on how to use polymers in concrete to ACI Committee Reports, Guides, Standard Practices, improve some characteristics of the hardened concrete. Recommendations and Commentaries are intended for guidance in designing, are included for polymer-impregnated concrete (PIC), polymer concrete (PC), polymer-modified concrete (PMC), and safety considerations for the planning, executing, and inspecting construction. This use of polymers in concrete. Information is provided on types of materials document is intended for the use by individuals who are and their storage, handling, and use, as well as concrete formulations, competent to evaluate the significance and limitations of equipment to be used, construction procedures, and applications. Glossa- its content and recommendations and who will accept re- ries of terms and abbreviations are appended. sponsibility for the application of the material it contains. The American Concrete Institute disclaims any and all re- Keywords: bridge decks; chemical resistance; concrete durability; impreg- nating; latex, monomers; parking facilities; patching; permeability; plastics, sponsibility for the stated principles. The Institute shall not polymers; polymer concrete; polymer-modified concrete; polymerization; be liable for any loss or damage arising therefrom. physical properties; repairs; resurfacing; safety. Reference to this document shall not be made in contract documents. If items found in this document are desired by ACI 548.1R-97 became effective September 24, 1997. This document supersedes ACI 548.1R-92. the Architect/Engineer to be a part of the contract docu- Copyright Ó 1997, American Concrete Institute. ments, they shall be restated in mandatory language for in- All rights reserved including rights of reproduction and use in any form or by any means, including the making of copies by any photo process, or by electronic or corporation by the Architect/Engineer. mechanical device, printed, written, or oral, or recording for sound or visual reproduc- tion or for use in any knowledge or retrieval system or device, unless permission in writing is obtained from the copyright proprietors. 548.1R-1 548.1R-2 ACI COMMITTEE REPORT CONTENTS Guide is written in four basic sections to address polymer- Chapter 1—Introduction, p. 548.1R-2 impregnated concrete (PIC), polymer concrete (PC), poly- 1.1—Purpose of the Guide mer-portland-cement concrete (PPCC) now called polymer- 1.2—Background modified concrete (PMC), and safety. Each of the three cat- egories of concrete containing polymers is usually applied to Chapter 2—Polymer impregnated concrete, p. particular types of concrete elements or specific concrete 548.1R-3 property improvements, although there are significant over- 2.1—Introduction lapping areas. Safety, however, is a prerequisite for all poly- 2.2—Concrete requirement for impregnation mer usage and thus is discussed collectively. The Guide does 2.3—Monomer systems not contain extensive tabulated data from specific studies. 2.4—Additives and modifiers This type of information is available in other documents and 2.5—Polymerization techniques does not contribute significantly to an understanding of how 2.6—Partially impregnated concrete the polymers are to actually be used in or applied to concrete. 2.7—Fully impregnated concrete 2.8—Encapsulation techniques to reduce monomer losses 1.2—Background The mission of ACI Committee 548, Polymers in Con- Chapter 3—Polymer concrete, p. 548.1R-11 crete, was to gather, correlate, and evaluate information on 3.1—Introduction the effects of polymers used in concrete on the properties of 3.2—Polymer concrete patching materials concrete, and to prepare a guide for their use. This mission 3.3—Polymer concrete overlays has now been changed to simply “Report information on the 3.4—Precast polymer concrete use of polymers in concrete.” Since its organization in 1971, the committee has sponsored symposium or technical ses- Chapter 4—Polymer modified concrete, p. 548.1R- sions at convention meetings in 1972, 1973, 1976, 1980, 16 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994 and 1996 4.1—Introduction on a variety of topics relating to the use of polymers in con- 4.2—Common PMC polymers crete. Eight symposium volumes containing the papers pre- 4.3—PMC applications sented at these sessions have been published. Most of the 4.4—Mixture proportioning other papers presented at sessions not covered by sympo- 4.5—Construction procedures sium volumes have been published either in the ACI Materi- 4.6—Quality control als Journal or in Concrete International. Benefits derived from the use of polymers in concrete Chapter 5—Safety aspects concerning the use of have world-wide appeal, as demonstrated by the extensive polymers in concrete, p. 548.1R-18 international attendance at the many symposia and con- 5.1—Introduction gresses that address this subject (ACI SP-40; ACI SP-58; 5.2—Chemicals ACI SP-69; ACI SP-89; ACI SP-99; ACI SP-116; 5.3—Construction practices ACISP-137; First [1975], Second [1978], Third [1981], 5.4—Other hazards Fourth [1984], Fifth [1987], Sixth [1990], and Seventh 5.5—Summary [1992] International Congress on Polymers in Concrete). The contributions made at these meetings, along with the Chapter 6—References, p. 548.1R-25 practical experience gained within the growing industry 6.1—Referenced standards and committee documents that applies polymer technology to concrete, form the base 6.2—Cited references of applied concrete technology that is limited only by the ingenuity of the concrete user. Appendix I—Glossary of terms for use with polymers in concrete, p. 548.1R-28 A State-of-the-Art report entitled “Polymers in Concrete,” was published in 1977 as ACI 548R-77 and reaffirmed, with Appendix II—Glossary of abbreviations used in modifications, in 1981. Another document, ACI 548.2R-88, this guide, p. 548.1R-29 “Guide for Mixing and Placing Sulfur Concrete in Construc- tion,” was published in 1988 and reaffirmed with editorial changes, in 1993. A third document, ACI 548.3R-91, “State- CHAPTER 1—INTRODUCTION of-the-Art Report on Polymer-Modified Concrete,” was 1.1—Purpose of the guide published in 1992 and revised in 1995. This was followed by The improvement of properties of hardened concrete by the first specification developed by the committee, the addition of polymers is well into its fifth decade. The ACI548.4, “Standard Specification for Latex-Modified purpose of this Guide is to provide the user with the funda- Concrete (LMC),” that was published in the ACI Materials mental background needed to apply the technology of poly- Journal in 1992, presented to the Institute at a standards pre- mers in concrete to a variety of engineering problems and sentation at the annual convention in March 1993, and bal- applications. loted by the institute in Concrete International in August The Guide’s format provides ease of modification and up- 1993. A subsequent document, ACI 548.5R, “Guide for dating as polymer technology continues to develop. The Polymer Concrete Overlays,” was published in 1993. Anoth- GUIDE FOR THE USE OF POLYMERS IN CONCRETE 548.1R-3 Fig. 2.1—Schematic for the method of producing PIC er report, published in 1996, is “State-of-the-Art Report on After polymerization has occurred, the resulting com- Polymer Concrete Structural Applications.” posite material consists essentially of two interpenetrat- ing networks: one is the original network of hydrated CHAPTER 2—POLYMER-IMPREGNATED portland-cement concrete and the other is an essentially CONCRETE continuous network of polymer that fills most of the voids 2.1—Introduction in the concrete. Polymer impregnated concrete (PIC) is a hydrated port- A simplified process description for PIC using pressure or land cement concrete that has been impregnated with a vacuum soaking and thermal catalytic polymerization is monomer that is subsequently polymerized in situ. In gener- shown in Fig.