Composites of Portland Cement and Natural Polymers

Abstract

The tensile strength of Portland cement may be increased by additional reinforcement. This is usually accomplished by means of steel rods, fibers or particles, which are mixed to the slurry. In an attempt of increasing toughness and tensile strength of hardened cement pastes, the present work describes the behavior of composites consisting of Portland reinforced by natural polymer particles for oil well cementing. The main purpose of the study was to select plastic and environmentally friendly powdered materials capable of filling the typical porosity developed on hardened Portland cement. Preliminary results suggested that the tensile strength of plain Portland hardened slurries could be increased by as much as 40% by adding 10% of reinforcement.