Influence of vacuum infiltration on mechanical properties of polymer concrete filled with lightweight ceramic aggregates

In this paper, the influence of vacuum infiltration of lightweight ceramic aggregates as fillers in polymeric concretes was described. In the first stage of the investigation, a set of ceramic aggregates with a high open porosity of about 27% was produced on the basis of industrial wastes. Ceramic aggregates with a size of 2 to 4 mm, hereinafter referred to as granules, were produced using contaminated glass cullet waste and coal shale. The effectiveness of granule infiltration with epoxy resin in the production of polymer concrete with high mechanical strength and relatively low mass compared to traditional concrete was discussed. The compressive strength of polymer concrete, where the aggregates were infiltrated with resin, is 87 MPa, and the polymer concrete, in which the vacuum infiltration process was not used, reaches a compressive strength of approximately 42 MPa. The resulting concrete, due to its density, is classified as a lightweight high-strength concrete.