Partial replacement of cement with polyethylene terephthalate fiber to study its effect on various properties of concrete

Abstract

Plastics being very light, high quality, easy to mould, less thickness and a minimal effort is required for its use as a basic material in different industries. The most widely and extensively used form of plastic is the Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) which is used as a crude material for soft drinks, soda bottles, and many other materials of the daily use. After the usage of the PET bottles, these are very difficult to be disposed off and are mostly dumped or burnt resulting in the degradation of environment. One of the best methods is to use the PET as replacement in concrete. In this paper, the use of PET in the form of fine powder as the replacement of Fine aggregates with the addition of Marble dust is investigated. The impact of using crushed PET as fine aggregate replacement in concrete and its effect on the strength of concrete has been studied. Different percentages of PET 0%, 4%, 8%, 12%, and 16% as fine aggregate replacement with the addition of 2% marble dust as an additive was used. Particle size distribution test and specific gravity test was also conducted on PET aggregates. The fresh and hardened concrete tests such as Workability test, compression test, flexural test and split tensile test were also carried out on cube, beams and cylinders. The test results showed that the strength of the specimens increased at 8% of PET replacement with 2% marble additives compared to the normal specimens at different curing ages. The Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) were also carried out to determine the nature and shape of PET molecules.