Thermomechanical compressive strength

The mechanical properties of polymeric materials including blends are reported in detail in commercial product literature and provide a basis of comparison of the engineering properties of materials for various end-use applications. The specific mechanical properties of interest include the modulus (tensile, flexural or bulk), strength (tensile, flexural or compressive), impact strength, ductility, creep resistance as well as the thermomechanical properties (e.g., heat distortion temperature). The mechanical property profile can be employed to determine the compatibility of the blend by comparison with the unblended constituents. Compatibi-lization methods can be evaluated easily by comparison of the mechanical property profile with and without compatibihzation. 

Figure 25 describes the thermal expansion of the silica KD brick-only and the silica KD brick/mortar composite samples. The mortar-only sample was also tested. The brick-only and the brick/mortar composite samples are similar except for temperatures above about 1100°F. The mortar softens considerably, as reflected in the mortar-only sample. Due to the confinement of the mortar within the mortar joint in the brick/mortar composite sample, the mortar maintains reasonable strength. This confirms that the true compressive stress-strain behavior of mortar must be tested with the mortar contained in the mortar joint (2). Containment of the mortar is an important and necessary parameter in testing the thermomechanical behavior of mortar. 

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