The performance of novel polymer mortar containing vinyl ester resin reinforced by fly ash and iron sand under compressive, tensile, dan flexural test

Polymer concrete is a type of advanced concrete widely used globally in the last few decades. It is suitable for a variety of applications such as in pipes, roadway pavements, and bridge decks. Concrete can also be used sustainably to mitigate CO₂ emissions due to the partial or total replacement of cement normally used as a binder with polymer. Several studies have explored polymer concrete materials and their applications but only a very few references were made to the mechanical properties and utilization of polymer mortar. One of the polymers most widely used is vinyl ester due to some advantages such as excellent corrosion and chemical resistance. Therefore, this study focused on examining the materials and compositions used in vinyl ester polymer mortar mixtures as well as their compressive, tensile, and flexural strength. The process involved conducting a preliminary test to assess the materials used in order to have an optimal composition. This was followed by the combination of the vinyl ester (VE) and its catalyst hardeners, mepoxe (ME) and cobalt (CO), fly ash (FA), and Lumajang iron sand (LIS) to determine compression strength, density, and cost with due consideration for the workability. Moreover, tensile and three-point bending tests were also applied to the materials. The results showed that the optimal content for the VE:ME:CO:FA:LIS was 42,2:2,9:0,63:18,1:36 with a compressive, tensile, and bending strengths of 92.64 MPa, 12.19 MPa, and 106.18 MPa, respectively. It was concluded that the novel polymer mortar has excellent mechanical properties and can be further implemented into structural elements such as pipes, beam-columns, slabs, walls, and others.