Experimental study of epoxy repairing of cracks in concrete

Cracks in concrete structures have always posed a big threat on the durability of concrete. Cracking of concrete is a random process, highly variable and influenced by many factors. Among the crack repair methods is the use of epoxy either by injection or by gravity filling in order to bond the crack and restore its structural integrity. Prior to the use of epoxy compounds and due to their versatility and the wide range of available physical and chemical properties of epoxy resin systems, one has to be completely aware and informed before entering the world of epoxies; other than crack repair, epoxy compounds have found a wide variety of uses in the concrete industry. In this study, 15 concrete cubes, six including cracks without repair, six including cracks bonded with gravity filled epoxy and three with no cracks were crushed and their compressive strengths were obtained. It was found that the cracks caused a reduction in compressive strength up to 40.93% whereas the epoxy system, when properly applied, restored the compressive strength by decreasing the reduction down to 8.23%. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.