Experimental and statistical investigation of flexural and compressive strengths of UPPC: Comparison between moulded and in-situ specimens

This study carries out experimental and statistical investigations on Unsaturated Polyester Polymer Concrete comparing in-situ (cut/cored) and moulded (cast) specimens for flexural and compressive strengths. The comparison is between standard-based cast specimens with those of the cored and cut from constructed elements. The specimens were made to consider different specimen shapes, sizes, and mix-designs, and grouped into three batches for each strength type. The total number of specimens were 75 and 79 for moulded and in-situ, respectively. Their strengths were represented by their statistical partial descriptors and nominal values, where the nominal values were calculated based on the characteristic values and the randomly selected 6 samples (specimens) for comparison. For flexural strengths, cut specimens showed greater averages and variations than cast specimens, although the trend was similar over different batches. For compressive strengths, cast specimens showed greater averages than cored specimens, but the variations were greater in cored specimens. For all cases, the number of specimens considered in this study did not cause noticeable statistical uncertainty, and 6-sample based nominal values could provide unconservative estimates.