Application of Taguchi method for optimization of concrete strengthened with polymer after high temperature

• This article applied the Taguchi method and Anova analysis.
• The high temperature tests were conducted on concrete containing silica fume.
• Concretes were exposed to 20 °C, 200 °C, 400 °C and 600 °C.
• The heat-damaged concrete strengthened with polymer.
• The compressive strength of concrete increased with the polymer impregnation.

In this study, the importance of experimental parameters on the compressive strength and ultrasonic pulse velocity of the concrete strengthened with polymer after exposure to high temperature was investigated statistically. The thirty-two experiments were conducted according to the L32 (21 × 49) array proposed by the Taguchi method. The main parameters of experiments were selected as the polymerization type, the percentage of silica fume, and heating degree. After the specimens were exposed to temperatures of 20 °C, 200 °C, 400 °C and 600 °C, the specimens were allowed to stand in the monomer with 1% Benzoyl peroxide for 24 h under atmospheric conditions. They were carried out the polymerization at 60 °C for 3 h. They were applied the ultrasonic pulse velocity and compressive strength tests. The significance levels of the experimental parameters, which indicate how the factors affect the compressive strength and ultrasonic pulse velocity, were determined by using variance (Anova) method. The Taguchi results showed that the maximum ultrasonic pulse velocity and compressive strength of concrete was obtained from the concrete strengthened with polymer containing 5% silica fume admixture exposed to 200 °C. The anova results showed that the silica fume percentage was the most significant effect on the compressive strength and ultrasonic pulse velocity.