Study on Temperature-Dependent Uniaxial Tensile Tests and Constitutive Relationship of Modified Polyurethane Concrete

Modified polyurethane concrete (MPUC) is a new material for steel deck pavements. In service, the pavement is often cracked due to excessive tensile stress caused by temperature changes. In order to study the tensile properties of MPUC in the diurnal temperature range of steel decks, uniaxial tensile tests of MPUC were carried out at five temperatures. Three kinds of specimens and a novel fixture were designed and fabricated to compare the results of four different tensile test methods. The deformation of the specimen was collected synchronously by two methods: pasting strain gauge and digital image correlation (DIC) technique. Based on the experiment, the tensile mechanical properties, failure modes, and constitutive relations of MPUC were studied under the effect of temperature. The research results show that the novel fixture can avoid stress concentration. By observing the fracture surface of the specimens, the bonding performance is great between the binder and the aggregate at different temperatures. The tensile strength and elastic modulus of MPUC decrease with increasing temperatures, while the fracture strain, and fracture energy increase with increasing temperatures. The formulas of temperature-dependent tensile strength, fracture strain, and elastic modulus of MPUC were established, and the constitutive relationship of MPUC is further constructed in the rising stage under uniaxial tension. The calculation results show good agreement with experimental ones.

Investigation of Tensile Creep Behavior for High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) via Experiments and Mathematical Model

Temperatures of -25 °C, +5 °C, and +35 °C were selected to study the creep behavior of high-density polyethylene (HDPE). The ultimate tensile strength of HDPE materials was obtained through uniaxial tensile experiments and the time-strain curves were obtained through creep experiments. When the loaded stress levels were lower than 60% of the ultimate strength, the specimens could maintain a longer time in the stable creep stage and were not prone to necking. In contrast, the specimens necked in a short time. Then, the time hardening form model was applied to simulate the time-strain curve and the parameter values were solved. The parameter values changed exponentially with the stresses, thereby expanding and transforming the time hardening model. The expanded model can easily and accurately predict creep behaviors of the initial and stable creep stages as well as the long-term deformations of HDPE materials. This study would provide a theoretical basis and reference value for engineering applications of HDPE.