APPLICATION OF FOAM MADE OF POST-CONSUMER PET MATERIALS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF FOOTBRIDGES

Abstract

The article presents the possibility of application in civil engineering of highly ecological PET foam, manufactured from 100% recycled plastic packaging. It may find uses in construction of numerous engineering structures, such as pedestrian and cycle footbridges. Properly processed waste from post-consumer PET packaging may constitute a quality structural core for use in multilayered composite materials, commonly referred to as sandwiches. Their constructional function is to provide a distance between highly rigid shells made of laminated, fiber reinforced polymer (FRP). PET foam may be obtained by recycling used plastic packages, such solution gives savings in energy consumption and results in lower emission of CO2. The application of this environmentally friendly material has been recognized by the research team in the FOBRIDGE project, developed in Poland by three consortium members: Gdansk University of Technology, Military University of Technology in Warsaw, and ROMA Co. Ltd. The use of PET foam in a full-scale 14 m-span length footbridge was preceded by laboratory tests with varying levels of complexity. The program included tension and compression tests of foam samples, compression and bending tests of sandwich beams, and multi-dimensional tests of 3 m long, full-scale footbridge segments. The experimental and computational analyses confirmed that a foam core made of recycled PET materials may constitute a great alternative for standard, much less ecological materials. It is assumed that after the footbridge goes out of operation, the used glass fibers and the PET foam core will be recycled and used in subsequent structures or products.