Mechanical Optimization of Concrete with Recycled PET Fibres Based on a Statistical-Experimental Study

Discarded polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles have damaged our ecosystem. Problems of marine fauna conservation and land fertility have been related to the disposal of these materials. Recycled fibre is an opportunity to reduce the levels of waste in the world and increase the mechanical performance of the concrete. PET as concrete reinforcement has demonstrated ductility and post-cracking strength. However, its performance could be optimized. This study considers a statistical-experimental analysis to evaluate recycled PET fibre reinforced concrete with various fibre dose and aspect ratio. 120 samples were experimented under workability, compressive, flexural, and splitting tensile tests. The results pointed out that the fibre dose has more influence on the responses than its fibre aspect ratio, with statistical relation on the tensional toughness, equivalent flexural strength ratio, volumetric weight, and the number of fibres. Moreover, the fibre aspect ratio has a statistical impact on the tensional toughness. In general, the data indicates that the optimal recycled PET fibre reinforced concrete generates a superior performance than control samples, with an improvement similar to those reinforced with virgin fibres.

EFFECT OF FIBRE ASPECT RATIO AND FIBRE VOLUME FRACTION ON THE EFFECTIVE FRACTURE ENERGY OF ULTRA-HIGH-PERFORMANCE FIBRE-REINFORCED CONCRETE

<p>This paper investigates the effective fracture energy of UHPFRC with various fibre volume fractions and various fibre aspect ratios. We have concluded that the effective fracture energy is dependent on both the fibre volume fraction and the fibre aspect ratio. In addition, we have found that both dependencies follow a linear trend.</p>