This study investigates the potential of Tin Slag Polymer Concrete (TSPC) strengthening through confinement using basalt fiber reinforced polymer (BFRP) and aramid fiber reinforced polymer(AFRP) confinement. TSPC short cylindrical column samples have been wrapped with BFRP and AFRP in a single layer (30 mm overlap) using Sikadur-330 epoxy and final samples were coded as TSPC-UC, TSPC-BF and TSPC-AF for unconfined, BFRP and AFRP for confined respectively. After curing for 30 days at room temperature, compressive test has been performed to know the strength, modulus, strain, fracture energy and failure modes of unconfined and confined TSPC.

Studies on the external strengthening of tin slag polymer concrete by fibre-reinforced plastic confinement have provided strength enhancement of tin slag polymer concrete up to 128% with carbon fibre-reinforced plastic confinement. However, the effect of metallic material confinement has yet to be studied. This article presents the experimental finding on tin slag polymer concrete strengthening through metallic material confinement under compressive loads. Machined mild steel metal tube has been employed to strengthen tin slag polymer concrete core in partial and fully confinement prior to compression testing. Through this study, compressive strength of tin slag polymer concrete short column has been enhanced with the metal tube confinement application from 59.19 MPa (unconfined) to 95.86 MPa (partial metal confinement) and 131.84 (full metal confinement) representing 61.95% and 122.74% of strength enhancement percentage. Material behaviour analysis through stress versus strain curves has revealed that the strain softening curve is modified by metal tube confinement before a fracture occurs on both partial and full metal confinement samples compared to the control sample (unconfined). In addition, the failure modes have indicated that the high ductility of metallic confinement material has effectively confined tin slag polymer concrete from sudden fracture where the metal tube in partial confinement indicates ductile expansion while the metal tube in full confinement has shown ductile crushing. In general, it was concluded that metallic material confinement on tin slag polymer concrete under compressive load has resulted in providing strength enhancement and modified the failure mode of tin slag polymer concrete. Finally, further research is recommended, especially by initiating numerical analysis to facilitate parametric studies on tin slag polymer concrete for structural material design.

Polymer concrete (PC) is a composite material made by fully replacing the cement binders of conventional cement concrete with polymeric binders. The property of PC is superior to cement concrete in term of curing time, higher strength, bulk modulus, acid or chemical material resistance as well as corrosion, ability to form complex shapes, and excellent vibration damping properties. The purpose of this study is to investigate strength limit of PC specimens with composition variations. In this project, experimental study has been performed on PC with variations of aggregates mixtures and resin ratio. Various composition of PC based on literatures are tested to determine the best composition for pre-cast product application. The study reveals that PC with fine aggregates and 30:70 aggregate resin ratio (AG2RT2) has the highest compressive strength (94.73 MPa) and water proof capacity (0%). Then PC with fine and coarse aggregates, fillers and chopped fibers (AG4RT2) has the highest flexural strength (12.94 MPa). The optimum PC composition specification has been applied to produce pre-cast product and field test has confirmed the product strength and durability. There are three PC pre-cast products that have been produced; plate, grating and drain trench before simple field test applied to observe the products serviceability. All products do not fail in field test within predetermined limit; static loading, free fall and water flow test. The potential to apply PC in existing pre-cast cement concrete product has been proven to enhance the product performance as well as preserving the nature by introducing polymeric resins as a replacement to cement.