Experimental Investigations on the Bond and Flexural Characteristics of PET Reinforced Concrete

Abstract

The safe disposal of non-recyclable plastic material is the most challenging issue for the solid waste
management across the globe. Even today, at least 15% of total plastic waste remains untreated. Incorporation of plastic
in concrete is an inclining area of research which is one of the ways of utilizing the exponentially increasing plastic
waste. Fibres obtained from the food grade Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottles are utilized in an earlier research
where satisfactory results were obtained. The present research studies concentrate on resolving the above issues in a
beneficial way. In the current study, post-consumer PET bottle is used as reinforcement for concrete and the bond
characteristics of PET with concrete and the flexural strength characteristics of concrete reinforced with PET in various
forms like hollow bars, strips etc are studied and also compared with those of steel reinforced concrete and the test
results are reported with detailed analysis.