Improvement of Physical and Mechanical Properties of Iraqi Gypsum Using Resole Resin

Abstract

The objective of the present work is to improve physical and mechanical properties of local gypsum reinforced with Resole resin. The water-gypsum ratio was kept at 45% throughout all these experiments. The prepared composites show a clear improvement in impact, compression strength and modulus of elasticity while, the bending strength is reduced when the Resole resin proportion in gypsum was increased from 2.5 to 10%. The other objective of this study was to evaluate the water absorption of Resole –gypsum composite. From the experimental results it may be concluded that swelling % was reduced when the Resole percentage in gypsum- Resole composite was increased.