Effect of redispersible vinyl acetate and versatate copolymer powder on flexibility of cement mortar

Abstract The effect of redispersible vinyl acetate and versatate copolymer (VA/VeoVa) powder on the flexibility of cement mortar is studied using the methods of the transverse deformation and the ratio of compressive strength to flexural strength ( σ C / σ F ), to explore the possibility of these two methods in charactering the flexibility of VA/VeoVa powder-modified mortar. The transverse deformation and the fracture energy of the modified mortar increase significantly with the augment of the m p / m c , but the peak load decreases when the m p / m c is higher than 8%. 3% m p / m c makes the compressive strength decrease, but has no effect on the flexural strength; whereas when the m p / m c is higher than 5%, the VA/VeoVa powder increases the flexural strength markedly. The σ C / σ F depresses sharply with the m p / m c augmenting from 0% to 3%. The transverse deformation and the σ C / σ F are complementary to each other in charactering the flexibility of VA/VeoVa powder-modified mortar. VA/VeoVa powder improves the flexibility of cement mortar significantly.