Characterizing the thermal properties of polymer concrete at elevated temperatures

In recent years, there has been growing interest in the use of polymer concrete in construction applications to address sustainability and durability issues. However, there is limited information on the fire performance of polymer concrete. For this purpose, thermal property tests were conducted on different types of polymer concrete (PC) and polymer-modified concrete (PMC) specimens to measure thermal conductivity, specific heat, mass loss, and thermal expansion in the temperature range of 20 °C–600 °C. Data from the tests indicate that the thermal properties of PC are significantly different from that of conventional concrete specifically beyond 200 °C. A notable increase in thermal conductivity and a decrease in specific heat capacity above 200 °C, along with an increase in thermal expansion beyond 300 °C, suggests accelerated thermal degradation of the polymer matrix in PC. In contrast, the thermal properties of PMC are closer to those of conventional concrete till about 600 °C. This behavior indicates that PMC exhibits greater thermal stability at elevated temperatures as compared to PC, making it more suitable for fire-related applications. The evaluated test data are utilized to propose temperature dependent relations for thermal conductivity, specific heat, mass loss, and thermal expansion of PC and PMC. The proposed relations can be incorporated into a numerical model for evaluating the thermal response of PC and PMC structures.