TCE 599

PROJECT PRESENTATION SEMINAR

OPAWOLE TOSIN MOSES

171012
BOND STRENGTH OF POLYSTYRENE MORTAR
AND REINFORCING STEEL
PROBLEM STUDY
The need for development of new materials can not be
overemphasized. Every field of engineering from aircraft building to
automobile development the need for lightweight and tough materials
are needed. The need to combine materials with different properties
led to the development of composites like polystyrene paste and fine
aggregates
AIM

 The aim of this work is to assess bond development between polystyrene

mortar and different diameters of reinforcing steel by means of pull-out test
Problem review
A lot of research has been done on
bond stress development of
concrete and reinforcing steel but
none has been done with
polystyrene mortar and reinforcing
steel. From literature it has shown
that polystyrene is a good material
but with very low mechanical
properties which can be
substantially improved by
dissolving hydrocarbon compounds
and mixing with aggregates in
controlled proportion.
Objectives of this project
 Dissolving of polystyrene foam in Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and mixing
with fine aggregates at controlled proportions.
 Fresh polystyrene mortar placed in forms and compacted with reinforcing
steel embedded vertically at the center and left to harden.
 Forms striked off and hardened mortar left to cure in open air
 Cured mortar taken to the laboratory and tested by means of an hydraulic
machine to determine the pull-out force.
 The pull-out force is used with mathematical relations provided in
standard codes of practice and published international journals to obtain
the bond stress.
Methodology for the project
 The preferred method is according to ACI 408R-03 reported by ACI
Committee 408

 Type (a) is to be employed for this project

Methodology
 The cast produced is then taken to the lab for testing. A universal testing
machine is used to determine the pull-out force.

Universal Testing Machine

Achievable
 The pull-out force is obtained from the UTM and used to compute the bond stress

Testing of Sample
Expected Results

There will be three mode of failure which are:

 steel rupture failure
 pullout failure
 splitting failure

(Hadi 2008)