South African Conference on Polymers in Concrete, Berg-en-Dal, Kruger National Park Jun 20-23, 2000

2. Toughness

Industrial floors need to withstand all the stresses that the industrial environment presents. They generally consist of a high proportion of sand and gravel (aggregate), and of as little binder (cement or reaction polymers) as possible. The aggregate itself and the binder must give the slab, which is sometimes only a few mm thick, a high level of cohesion. Industrial floors need to be exceptionally "strong":

This "strength" involves "surface" properties that manifest in layers just a few millimetres thick. For this reason, just a simple concrete slab, even without a screed that may be only 5 mm thick, can permanently withstand many stresses. Dust is the only problem, since it is the nature of cement floors to generate dust. The dust is overcome with the aid of a stabilising impregnation applied at a rate of 150 to 400 g/sq. m. The applied quantity depends on the porosity of the concrete, i.e. on the compaction of the concrete skin. If more of the concrete's properties need improvement, additional layers must be applied, such as

which can also fill cracks, be highly resistant to chemicals and/or may be antistatic. Such layers are often sealed with a thin, 0.1 mm coating. More information may be found in the AGI work sheet A 80 (08.95), "Synthetic Resin Industrial Floors".