Research On Properties Of Thin Epoxy Overlay Materials

Thin epoxy overlay material is a new pavement material which refers to a new polymer concrete that uses epoxy resin as binder, single graded basalt stone as aggregate and thin applied. Researchers are not very clear about its characterizations since insufficient research on this kind of polymer concrete. This paper was aimed to determine its application properties as a pavement material, such as viscoelastic characterizations, dynamic modulus, fatigue characterizations etc. and its fatigue life that used as steel bridge deck overlays has also been carried out. This can provide basic material parameters of thin epoxy overlay materials for engineers especially for pavement design engineers.Firstly, DMA was used to study the viscoelastic characterizations of the binder and time-temperature correspondence principle was used to build the master curve of complex modulus and phase angle. Several viscoelastic models were used to simulate the master curve and conclusions have been made that linear models were not available since it’s inaccurate. H-S model, a combination of simple linear elements and nonlinear elements, has been recognized to describe the viscoelastic characterizations of thin epoxy overlay materials.Secondly, glass transition temperature was introduced to evaluate the viscoelastic characterizations of the epoxy binder. The viscoelastic behavior of epoxy overlay materials mainly depended on the glass transition temperature. It will experience the change from glass state to viscoelasticity state to rubbery state at the temperatures from low to high.Thirdly, the research on epoxy overlay materials was based on the research of binder and H-S model can be used to describe the viscoelastic characterizations of the overlay materials as well.At last, fracture mechanics and fatigue properties of epoxy materials have been conducted using three point bending test to build fatigue models based on the stress, strain and stress ratio. Then the service life predication has been carried out considering the moving traffic load and the structure of steel bridge. And this can be used to optimize the structure of thin epoxy overlay materials.