Polymer concrete has proved to be advantageous in machine building for many years thanks to its excellent damping properties. Until now, its use was limited to machine beds due to its comparatively low tensile strength. Its use in moving structural components has not been possible until now. Recent research results have shown that this challenge can be met by integrating prestressed carbon fibers. Until now, the production of samples out of prestressed fiber-reinforced polymer concrete has been carried out according to fixed specifications. It is not yet clear whether these specifications are suitable to fully exploit the potential of the material. Samples manufactured to these specifications show at least a large scatter in bending stiffness. Within the scope of this paper, the existing manufacturing process is validated by the variation of process steps. Specifically, this involved the use of a shaker, variation of the dwell time in the mold, variation of the resin content, and the procedure for impregnating the fibers. The characterization of the samples showed that the scatter could only be reduced by increasing the dwell time. However, this leads to a decrease in bending stiffness and, thus, is not suitable for further improvement of the novel material.

Recently, prestressed fiber-reinforced polymer concrete (PFRPC) has shown potential for use in highly stressed machine components. In particular, the low density and thermal and dynamic properties of the material should be mentioned. However, at present, there are still no possibilities for dimensioning the hybrid material, which consists of the granular material polymer concrete and prestressed carbon fibers. In particular, the numerical representation of the residual stress field poses a challenge. This paper is divided into 4 sections. First, the bending properties of pure polymer concrete, fiber-reinforced polymer concrete and PFRPC are determined experimentally. In the subsequent section, the numerical modeling of pure polymer concrete is carried out, first comparing various numerical and analytical models for determining the modulus of elasticity of granular materials. The model is then extended to include the integration of carbon fiber rovings, followed by an investigation into various methods for mapping the residual stress field. The Caquot model (15% accuracy) was found to be particularly suitable for mapping the polymer concrete, and a subdivision of the material into tensile and compressive areas proved to be essential. By determining the mechanical properties of the impregnated carbon fiber rovings using representative volume elements, the fiber-reinforced polymer concrete could be mapped with an accuracy of 2.2%. The integration of the selected models, in conjunction with the introduction of a homogeneous residual stress field derived from experimental values, enabled the successful representation of the bending test with an accuracy of 12.6%.

Polymer concrete is increasingly used in high-precision machine tools due to its excellent damping properties, thermal stability, and reduced environmental impact. However, its low tensile strength and stiffness limit its use in structural or dynamically loaded components. This study examines the mechanical enhancement of polymer concrete through the integration of prestressed continuous carbon fiber reinforcements. Specimens with embedded carbon fiber rovings prestressed up to 470 MPa were fabricated and tested under three-point bending and uniaxial compression loading. Bending strength increased by up to 35 % and bending stiffness by 16 %, with significant gains occurring beyond a prestress level of 70 – 110 MPa. CT imaging confirmed that prestressing delayed crack initiation and limited propagation. Under compressive loading parallel to the fiber direction, strength increased by up to 8 %, though the effect diminished at higher prestress levels. A reduction in compressive strength was observed for transverse loading, attributed to matrix discontinuities and stress redistribution. The results demonstrate that prestressed fiber integration significantly improves the structural performance of polymer concrete, offering enhanced load capacity and failure resistance. These findings lay the foundation for broader application of polymer concrete in load-bearing components and support the development of hybrid systems combining mechanical efficiency with design flexibility.