Throughout the beginning of the first semester, polymer concrete samples and components were received. Once all the materials were received and appropriate preparation steps were taken such as waxing of molds, preparation of mixer and laying of plastic, mixing began.

The first batch of concrete mixed was the MMA Polymer Concrete, which was donated by Transpo Industries Inc. The liquid component of the MMA concrete is very dangerous and appropriate measures were taken to ensure the safety of our group members during mixing. Below is a picture of team members Elias Bermudez and Paul Durate mixing the concrete.

The second batch of concrete to be mixed was for our ordinary concrete, which will be used as our control in our testing. The samples were mixed in the TCNJ Civil Lab using the available aggregate and cement. With the completion of these two batches, and the donated polyester polymer concrete donated by Kwik Bond Polymers, our project is ready to move forward with testing. The image below displays one of the curing control concrete specimens (still in mold), a polyester sample and the MMA sample from left to right.

The following four types of polymers will be utilized to create polymer concrete to be manufactured and tested according to ASTM standards:

• Methyl Methacrylate
• Polyester
• Epoxy
• Vinyl Ester

The methyl methacrylate concrete will be donated by Transpo. Industries Inc. This MMA concrete has the following composition:

Table 1: T-17 (MMA Polymer Concrete) from Transpo Industries Inc.

The polyester polymer concrete has also been generously donated by Kwik Bond Polymers. The polyester concrete and its composition can be found in Table 2.

Table 2: Polyester Concrete from Kwik Bond Polymers

The final two types of concrete will be purchased from Ergon Armor, pending budget approval. The composition of the epoxy and vinyl ester concrete can be found in Table 3 and 4 respectively.

Table 3: Epoxy Concrete from Ergon Armor

Table 4: Vinyl Ester Concrete from Ergon Armor