Multi-scale analysis of mechanical properties of KH-560 coupling agent modified PVA fiber-rubber concrete

ABSTRACT Amphiphilic Silane coupling agent (SCA) improves the weak bond between the two phases of rubber and hydration products, fills the interfacial gaps and effectively repairs the interfacial defects between rubber and hydration products. The addition of PVA fibers mainly improves the cracking performance and durability of concrete. However, most of the studies addressing this issue have been limited to phenomenology, ignoring the mechanism of action at the atomic structure level. Therefore, this study investigates the strengthening mechanism of the interfacial properties of KH-560 coupling agent-reinforced PVA fiber-rubber concrete from the multi-scale analysis of macro-mechanical properties, micro and fine structure, chemical composition and nano-optical level. Based on the results of macro-mechanical tests, it was found that the KH-560 coupling agent could improve the compressive, flexural and shear strength of PVA-rubber concrete, so that the damage morphology also changed from brittle damage to plastic damage, and the compressive strength of concrete was slightly reduced due to the addition of PVA, but the durability and cracking resistance were enhanced. XRD (X-ray diffraction), FT-IR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy) and SEM (scanning electron microscopy) tests observed the presence of some gels and polymers that filled the interfacial slits and effectively repaired the interfacial defects. The two-phase interface was simulated by molecular dynamics at the nano level, and it was found that KH560 molecules could be closely connected with C-S-H gel collectively through Si-O-Si chemical bonding, and KH560 molecular bonds were unevenly distributed between the C-S-H and rubber interfaces, while the addition of modifier KH560 and PVA fibers caused more hydrogen and ionic bonds at the interface, which enhanced the interfacial interaction energy. Systematic experiments were conducted on PVA fiber-rubber soil materials before and after SCA modification under macroscopic, microscopic, fine and nano-level multi-scale analyses, which ultimately lead to the design and performance improvement of SCA modification of PVA-rubber cement-based materials in a multi-scale framework. The graphic summary is shown in Figure 1. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT