Durability of Resin Concrete and Polymer-Impregnated Concrete as Ocean Structural Material

Abstract

In future, a large-scale application of resin concrete and polymer-impregnated concrete is expected in the field of ocean engineering structures (offshore buildings, floating structures, etc.). The ocean engineering structures are exposed under more severe external forces than land structures as permanent structures, and so in such application of resin concrete and polymer-impregnated concrete it is most important to know whether they can be used safely as materials for ocean engineering structures.
In this paper, the marine exposure tests of polyester resin concrete (abbrev. REC), polystyrene-impregnated concrete (abbrev. PIC) and cement concrete (abbrev. CC) are conducted in the Inland Sea of Seto, where high needs for ocean engineering structures are expected in future. Furthermore, for the design consideration of ocean engineering structures, the change of mechanical properties, the shape change needed for wave force estimation, the weight change needed for dead load estimation, etc., are discussed.
The test results indicate no mechanical deterioration for all specimens. However, when compared with cement concrete, the degree of fouling with sea living creatures on polyester resin concrete and polystyrene-impregnated concrete is remarkably large.