Development of latex modified concrete in Saudi Arabia : material aspect

Abstract EN

This paper is concerned with the development of latex modified concrete ٧sing local materials.

The mix design was prepared using marginal aggregates (Jebel Dhahran) to evaluate the effectiveness of latex in upgrading concrete made of low quality aggregate.

The variables studied includes polymer-cement ratio, water-cement ratio, sand-aggregate ratio, and cement content.

The appropriate mix design ؛s chosen based on the application of latex modified concrete as a protective system to attain low permeability, reasonable slump, and good strength.

The use of latex modified concrete in two-stage construction requires good bond so the best surface treatment is chosen, based on Arizona slant shear test and economy.

The test results have shown that (i) workability increases as polymer-cement ratio increases, (ii) an optimum value of polymer-cement ratio of 0.10 gives the best results in compression, splitting-tensile and flexural strengths, (iii) the least permeable concrete is obtained at polymer-cement ratio of 0.15, and (iv) wet surface treatment given to normal concrete surface yields the best results for bonding latex modified concrete to hardened Portland cement concrete.