Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 1906–1915

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Construction and Building Materials

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Preliminary analysis of concrete reinforced with waste bottles PET fibers

Dora Foti ⇑
Technical University of Bari, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Via Orabona, 4-70125 BARI, Italy

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: As part of the research on fiber-reinforced concrete, the results of some tests for an approach to a broader
Received 5 August 2010 testing on the possibility of using fibers from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles to increase the
Received in revised form 12 October 2010 ductility of the concrete are reported. The fibers are simply cut from waste plastic bottles reducing, in this
Accepted 13 November 2010
way, the manufacturing costs of recycled PET fiber-reinforced concrete. The aim of this paper is to explore
Available online 21 December 2010
the possibility of re-cycling a waste material that is now produced in large quantities, while achieving an
improvement of the ductility of the concrete.
Keywords:
Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Fiber-reinforced concrete
PET bottles
Characterization tests
Ductility

1. Introduction
Fiber-reinforced concrete is a composite material resulting from
the addition of reinforcing fibers to the brittle matrix of ordinary
concrete. The idea of using fiber reinforcement comes from the
need to find a remedy to the phenomena of cracking, such as pro-
duced by shrinkage, which inevitably affects the service life of con-
crete buildings. Concrete is a material that is well resistant to
compression, but has low tensile strength. The low level of tensile
strength is caused by phenomena such as plastic and/or hydraulic
shrinkage with the formation of unwanted micro and macro
cracks.
In addition to traditional measures and precautions to limit un-
wanted shrinkage cracks such as keeping moist the surfaces of the
coating in the early hours of maturation and by using specific
additives, the use of reinforcing fibers to stop or at least limit the
propagation of cracks has been considered [1]. Fiber-reinforced
concrete (FRC), in fact, performs better than normal concrete
thanks to the ‘‘sewing effect’’ that the fibers have on the cracks,
with consequent benefits in terms of toughness, ductility, impact
strength (toughness), abrasion and fatigue. It has been noted
experimentally that the fibers are more effective in the post-crack
phase, preventing the spread of cracks. Thus the practical benefit
achieved by the use of a fibrous reinforcement is essentially a more
widespread ductility of the structure in FRC and a reduced spread
of shrinkage cracks.
The aspect ratio of the fibers must be correlated with the
strength of those that have to be controlled, depending on the type
of matrix used (mortar or concrete), to avoid the risk of reducing
⇑ Tel.: +39 080 5963771; fax: +39 080 5963719.
E-mail address: d.foti@poliba.it
the workability of the mix that will determine the maximum value
of resistance that the composite system can develop. In fact, for
low doses (up to 2% of the total weight of concrete), used mainly
for concrete, the fibers provide an increase of toughness that is
shown by the presence of a residual resistance after cracking has
occurred, even if the behavior is degrading (softening) [2]. Increas-
ing the percentage of fibers (more than 2%) or their content by vol-
ume, the structural response changes and shows hardening in the
load–deflection curve (Fig. 1).
Synthetic fibers show most success in practical applications and
experiments since they show that they have qualities that other fi-
bers do not, such as:
– they are chemically inert;
– do not corrode;
– allows easy jetting of the concrete;
– are lighter than steel fibers of the same number;
– they allow a better control of the plastic shrinkage cracking.
Synthetic fibers, in general, have an elastic modulus lower than
that of the matrix [3]. They are divided into:
– high modulus fibers (carbon fibers, aramid and acrylic) which
are costly;
– low modulus fibers (fibers of polyethylene, polypropylene,
polyester and nylon) that do not contribute to the increase of
tensile strength but are effective in controlling shrinkage
cracking.
Fiber-reinforced concrete, in the hardened state, has the typical
aspect of ordinary concrete, but in contrast to this, has an increase
of ductility and reduced shrinkage cracking [2]. Moreover, the

0950-0618/$ - see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2010.11.066
 D. Foti / Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 1906–1915 1907

while in the FRC it is gradual. The increased ductility is clearly

shown by the fact that the collapse of a FRC element is not unex-
pected, but it is predicted by a phase of large deformations associ-
ated to a fiber elongation at break, which must be two or three
orders of magnitude greater than the rupture deformation of the
matrix, so that the collapse of the matrix will occur before the rup-
ture of the fibers.
In the present paper the mechanical properties and behavior of
concrete reinforced with polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers
obtained from waste bottles is studied. Different shapes of PET fi-
bers are utilized, strips and ‘‘O’’ fibers. Comparisons of the behavior
of specimens with and without fibers during bending tests have
been analyzed.
Studies on PET fibers have been developed in [4]. Among other
properties, they show a sufficient alkali resistance compared to
other fibers and this result makes PET fibers good as concrete-rein-

Table 1
Fig. 1. Stress–strain diagram of fiber-reinforced concrete with different amounts of List of the specimens made with the three different mixtures.
fiber.
Specimen Characteristics
impact resistance is improved, since a single crack cannot propa- 1N Prism no. 1: 100  100  400 mm in ordinary concrete
gate freely through the element, but is prevented in this by the fi- 2N Prism no. 2: 100  100  400 mm in ordinary concrete
bers that form a 3-dimensional mesh reinforcement, intercepting 1FC Prism no. 1: 100  100  400 mm in reinforced concrete with
short lamellar fibers
fractures; there is also a significant resistance to abrasion and chip-
2FC Prism no. 2: 100  100  400 mm in concrete reinforced with
ping. Toughness and ductility of the composite are enhanced short lamellar fibers
through the sewing effect that the fibers have on the cracks, either 1FO Prism no. 1: 100  100  400 mm in concrete reinforced with ‘‘O’’
by withdrawal or, more prominently, resulting from external loads. fibers
2FO Prism no. 2: 100  100  400 mm in concrete reinforced with ‘‘O’’
Toughness is a peculiar characteristic of FRC; it is defined as the en-
fibers
ergy absorbed prior to complete failure that, for a specimen in or-
dinary concrete, happens suddenly in an uncontrolled fashion,
Table 2
Mixtures used to manufacture the specimens of ordinary concrete and FRC.

Mixtures Concrete Aggregate Fibers Water

Portland (kg) (kg) (g) (l)
1 Ordinary concrete 4 20 – 2.8
2 Concrete with short 4 20 50 2.8
lamellar fibers
3 Concrete with ‘‘O’’ 4 20 50 2.8
fibers

Fig. 2. (a) Sample of short lamellar fibers and (b) sample of ‘‘O’’fibers. Fig. 3. Specimens for the first series of preliminary tests.
1908 D. Foti / Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 1906–1915

forcing fibers. Studies on concrete reinforced with PET fibers have been coated with maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene and
been previously developed [4,5], where the fibers have been ex- then chopped into the desired fiber length. These long manufactur-
truded to produce monofilaments, or the surfaces of the fibers have ing processes cause a reducing advantage in terms of costs.

Fig. 4. (a) Instron electromechanical test machine, (b) test scheme and (c) placement of the specimen in the test machine.
 D. Foti / Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 1906–1915 1909

In this study PET fibers have been obtained in a more simple
way, just cutting waste bottles; in this way elaborate and costly
manufacturing procedures have been avoided. The present re-
search aims, in fact, to explore the possibility of using fibers made
from plastic bottles in the simplest and most economic way. It is
therefore part of the research on re-cycling of a waste material
(plastic bottles) that is produced in large quantities and difficult
to destroy [5].
This work belongs to the complex and ever-growing research in
the field of fiber-reinforced concrete, but the main aim is to show
what impact the use of a fibrous reinforcement within the concrete
produces.
The fibers, evenly dispersed in the mixture to form a three-
dimensional diffuse concrete reinforcement, are generally able to
effectively distribute the usual internal and external stresses acting
on the concrete.
The analysis of the results put in evidence the effective increase
of residual post-cracking strengths that qualify recycled PET fiber-
reinforced concrete as an innovative material on which deepen the
research with the aim to promote ever best performance in the
construction field.
2. Experimental analysis
The experimental investigation conducted at the laboratory ‘‘M.
Salvati’’ of the Technical University of Bari, had as main purpose to
check the influence and efficacy of a concrete fiber reinforcement
adding PET fibers, obtained from common plastic bottles of mineral
water.
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) belongs to the family of poly-
ester and it is a thermoplastic resin composed of phthalates suit-
able primarily for food use.
The elastic modulus of PET is EPET = 3100 N/mm2 that is lower
than the concrete matrix one.
Two series of tests have been performed: a first series of very
preliminary tests with a unique dosage of different fibers, then a
second series of tests with a common basic concrete matrix com-
mercially available to keep the standard for a better comparison
of the behavior of the same concrete with different dosages and
typologies of fibers.
bers. This is also because it was found that the introduction of
any kind of fibers in the composite, involves a significant reduction
in the workability of the concrete. In this regard, it was ascertained
that, in order to increase the latter characteristic of concrete with
fibers, it should proceed with the execution of the mix adding, in
a concrete mixer, first the aggregates (sand and gravel), followed
by the concrete, then, gradually, fibers and, at the end, water. In
this way it was possible to obtain an almost homogeneous disper-
sion of the fibers in the mix.
Six 100  100  400 mm specimens were made, namely two
samples for each type of mix; the mix made were three, differenti-
ating from each other only by the presence of fiber reinforcement,
while leaving unchanged the other components (cement, aggre-
gates and water) and their strengths in order to make a comparison
of the results.
To obtain the specimens of fiber-reinforced concrete, 50 g of
short lamellar (strips) fibers were added to the second mix, obtain-
ing samples 1FC and 2FC, and 50 g of ‘‘O’’ fibers to the third mix to
obtain specimens 1FO and 2FO. Table 1 lists the six specimens
tested, together with their name, dimensions and contents.
Table 2 summarizes the dosages relating to individual constitu-
ents of the three mix. They were prepared so as to maintain the
composition of concrete and fiber content, differing the last only
for shape and size. This assumption will be useful later on, during
the analysis of the results of the bending tests, to express, on the
basis of a comparison, observations and conclusions about the
behavior of fiber-reinforced composite.

2.1. First series of tests

In the first phase only very preliminary tests have been per-
formed to check if the idea could give interesting results. With this
aim, therefore, the specimens have been realized without exactly
following the code prescriptions that is providing them with a cen-
tral cut for bending tests. The specimens have been realized as sim-
ple 100  100  400 mm parallelepipeds.
The ordinary concrete was obtained by mixing composite Port-
land concrete (Type II/A-L; 42.5 R) with gravel and sand of different
sizes, and water. The same mix was utilized for the fiber-reinforced
concrete, with the addition of the fibers.
Fibers were used both lamellar type shown in Fig. 2a, with a
length of 32 mm and a section of 2  0.1 mm2, and circular fibers
(Fig. 2b), with a diameter of 30–50 mm and a width variable
around 5 mm, obtained, the latter fibers, removing the ends of
the 500 cc. bottles, crushing and cutting them normally to their
longitudinal axis. Given that, from experiments carried out by
other researchers [5], it was found that the introduction of ‘‘strips’’
of PET bottles in the concrete in place of sand, may determine,
above certain quantities, a marked reduction in compression resis-
tance of the concrete. For this reason, in this series of preliminary
tests a very small quantity of PET fibers, of the order of 0.26% of the
concrete weight has been added for both the lamellar and ‘‘O’’ fi- Fig. 5. (a) Sewing effect of PET fibers after cracking and (b) detail.
1910 D. Foti / Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 1906–1915

The three mixtures had in common the dosages of the various
constituent materials, including fibers, as shown in Table 2.
Composite Portland concrete of Type II/A-LL (SN EN 197-
1:2000) was utilized; it is called Portland Cement limestone, and
contains 65–79% of clinker, 21–35% of lime and 0–5% of secondary
components.
For each of the three mixtures 20 kg of aggregates of various
sizes were added, that is normal sand (0.10 mm size granules)
and crushed stone.
The samples were carefully prepared and stored for aging, in
accordance with UNI EN 12390:2009.
The fresh mixture was then poured into steel molds, which have
been previously oiled with a product that facilitates the subse-
quent disarmament. The samples of fresh concrete thus obtained
were appropriately compacted and when this phase was com-
pleted, the upper surface of the specimens were accurately leveled.
Subsequently sheets of wet paper were placed on the molds to
avoid a rapid loss of heat produced by hydration. The molds were
stored for a period of 28 days at a temperature of 20° ±2°C and
humidity (RH) of 90% as required by the code prescriptions.
Fig. 3 shows a photo of the six specimens ready for the charac-
terization tests.
Subsequently, the six specimens were subjected to bending
tests with a concentrated load at the centerline in order to verify
their behavior. The bending tests were performed by an Instron
electromechanical test machine of 50 kN maximum load, using
the Wavemaker software Instron Ltd. Thus, it was possible to
set all the test parameters, to view in real-time the load–displace-
ment curves, to read, moment by moment, the values of load and
displacement, to store and/or print the results of each test.

Fig. 6. Load–displacement diagrams of the tested specimens.

 D. Foti / Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 1906–1915 1911

Fig. 4a–c shows, respectively, the test machine, the test scheme,
and the geometry and constraints of the specimens and the place-
ment of the specimens in the test machine to ensure the symmetry
axis of the load.
The test was divided into three steps to avoid differences in the
test conditions to get for each specimen more comparable results:
– Step 1: a constant gradient load test in which the crossbar was
moved up at a steady rate to reach 0.5 kN at a time of 25 s.
– Step 2: a constant gradient displacement test, during which the
machine produced a constant speed of the movement of the
crossbar of 0.5 mm/min.
– Step 3: a constant gradient displacement test during which the
machine produced a constant speed of the movement of the
crossbar of 3 mm/min in the post-cracking phase.
Reached the peak value, corresponding to the ultimate tensile
strength of the concrete, the first crack started to appear.
From the diagrams it is clear that the peak value of the resis-
tance remained almost unchanged around 8 kN and, conversely,
what characterizes the six specimens is the different post-cracking
behavior, which is the branch of the curve to the right of the peak,
at which the process of cracking has been triggered.
The curves confirm the brittle behavior of specimens 1 N and
2 N in ordinary concrete with no reinforcement fibers; in fact, it

Visually it was possible to appreciate the sewing effect of the fi-

bers on the cracks induced by the load; this effect also reflected in
the development of quantitative data to obtain the test results
(Fig. 5).
The photos also point out a deviation of the cracks that do not
have the typical V-shape down that appears in ordinary concrete
specimens at failure; this effect was induced by its own fibers.
Fig. 5 shows the crack formed to achieve the maximum tensile
strength of the concrete specimens reinforced with PET fibers and
highlights the ability of fibers to trap micro and macro cracks thus
limiting the opening.

2.2. Results of the first series of tests

The results processed by the software Wavemaker provided the

load–displacement diagrams shown in Fig. 6.
In a first phase of loading the samples remained intact and this
behavior was due because the concrete, for low loads, shows a lin-
ear elastic-like behavior that resists both to tensile and compres-
sion stresses.

Table 3
Results of the bending tests.

Type specimen Tensile Inflection

strength (mm)
(kN)
Ordinary concrete specimens (1 N and 2 N) 7.88 0.58
Concrete specimens reinforced with short 8.19 0.95
lamellar fibers (1FC and 2FC)
Concrete specimens reinforced with ‘‘O’’ fibers 7.47 0.48
(1FO and 2FO)
Fig. 7. Compression test on a cubic specimen.

Table 4
List of the specimens utilized for the second series of tests.

Mixture Specimen Characteristics

1S Prism no. 1: 100  100  400 mm in ordinary concrete
A 2S Prism no. 2: 100  100  400 mm in ordinary concrete
1C (0.75%) Prism no. 1: 100  100  400 mm in concrete reinforced with circular ‘‘O’’ fibers with a dosage equal to 0.75% of the total weight of the
specimen
B 2C (0.75%) Prism no. 2: 100  100  400 mm in concrete reinforced with circular ‘‘O’’ fibers with a dosage equal to 0.75% of the total weight of the
specimen
1C (0.50%) Prism no. 1: 100  100  400 mm in concrete reinforced with circular ‘‘O’’ fibers with a dosage equal to 0.50% of the total weight of the
specimen
C 2C (0.50%) Prism no. 2: 100  100  400 mm in concrete reinforced with circular ‘‘O’’ fibers with a dosage equal to 0.50% of the total weight of the
specimen
1FC Prism no. 1: 100  100  400 mm in concrete reinforced with short lamellar fibers with a dosage equal to 0.50% of the total weight of the
specimen
D 2FC Prism no. 2: 100  100  400 mm in concrete reinforced with short lamellar fibers with a dosage equal to 0.50% of the total weight of the
specimen
1912 D. Foti / Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 1906–1915

is observed that after the point of first crack, the specimen cracks Table 3 shows the values of tensile strength for the six speci-
almost suddenly, with very small deformations. mens tested for bending. The highest values are obtained for the
For fiber-reinforced concrete specimens, with increasing bend- specimens reinforced with short lamellar fibers (1FC and 2FC).
ing, the failure progresses continuously but there was no collapse
of the composite because while the concrete was broken, the load
previously supported was transmitted to the fibers.
Synthetic fibers in the matrix, in fact, start to express their con-
tribution after reaching the point of maximum tensile strength, i.e.
the peak of the diagram, determining within the mix, the so-called
‘‘diffusion effect’’: they behave as ‘‘stitches’’ preventing the spread
of cracks in the concrete and delaying hence the collapse that,
however, is sudden in specimens of ordinary concrete without
fibers.
The fiber-reinforced specimens with short lamellar fibers (1FC
and 2FC) show a modest increase in toughness (corresponding to
the area under the load–displacement curve), which is shown in
macroscopic terms, as a slower crack process, which avoided the
sudden collapse of the specimen.
Specimens reinforced with ‘‘O’’ fibers (1FO and 2FO) showed a
higher increase of toughness, probably due to the particular shape
of the fibers, which have a higher aspect ratio, while the load peak
is of the same order of magnitude as the other fiber-reinforced
examples. The closed form of the fiber produces a better bonding Fig. 10. Force–displacement diagrams of specimens reinforced with ‘‘O’’ fibers
inside of the concrete of the two sides of the crack and it deter- (0.75% dosage).
mines a higher slippage resistance if compared to short lamellar
fibers.

Fig. 11. Force–displacement diagrams of specimens reinforced with ‘‘O’’ fibers

(0.75% and 0.50% dosages).
Fig. 8. Tensile test on the fibers.

Fig. 12. Force–displacement diagrams of specimens reinforced with ‘‘O’’ fibers and
Fig. 9. Force–displacement diagrams of un-reinforced concrete specimens. lamellar fibers (0.50% dosage).
 D. Foti / Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 1906–1915 1913

2.3. Second series of tests
As a consequence of the results obtained from the previous
tests, it was considered appropriate to further investigation, mak-
ing more specimens, with different and increased fiber content. It
was also preferred to make the tests repeatable to get comparable
results. With this aim the matrix utilized in the second series of
tests, was a premixed material commercially available.
The ‘‘O’’ fibers have a 6 cm diameter and a width of about 5 mm.
The short lamellar fibers have a 5 mm width and a 35 mm length.
In short, samples were made very similar to those used for the
first preliminary tests; they are shown in Table 4.
In total eight specimens were realized and tested, two for each
fiber typology, that is with ‘‘O’’ fibers and short lamellar fibers.
For the specimens with ‘‘O’’ fibers, two different fiber quantities
were added. This choice was based on the results obtained in the
first series of tests where specimens with ‘‘O’’ fibers performed bet-
ter than those with lamellar fibers.
All mix were composed by 30 kg of premixed material and
3.95 l of water. Mix B was added with 225 g of fibers, while mix
C and D contained 150 g of fibers.

Fig. 13. Force–displacement diagrams of specimens with no fiber reinforcement

and reinforced with ‘‘O’’ fibers (0.75% dosage).

Fig. 15. Average values of the tensile strength on cubic specimens.

Fig. 14. Energy dissipated in each fiber reinforced specimen. Fig. 16. Force–deformation plot of the fiber.

Table 5
Strength values from the bending tests.

Specimen 1S 2S 1C (0.75%) 2C (0.75%) 1C (0.50%) 2C (0.50%) 1FC 2FC

2
fct (N/mm ) 4.7 4.2 4.8 4.3 3.7 3.6 3.7 3.7

Table 6
Maximum values of the compression load at failure.

Without fibers 0.75% ‘‘O’’ fibers (water = 3.95 l) 0.50% ‘‘O’’ fibers (water = 3.95 l) 0.50% short fibers
(water = 3.95 l) (water = 3.95 l)
Specimen 1S 2S 3S 1C 0.75% 2C 0.75% 3C 0.75% 1C 0.5% 2C 0.5% 3C 0.5% 4C 0.5% 1FC 2FC 3FC 4FC
Max strength (N/mm2) 60.5 58.1 58.8 40.6 38.3 38.9 35.9 36.8 33.4 41.5 40.2 39.4 40 41.1
Average strength
(N/mm2) 59.1 39.28 36.91 40.19
1914 D. Foti / Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 1906–1915
Table 7
Characteristics of commercial fibers for FRC.
Fiber type Equivalent diameter (lm) Specific weight (103 kg/m3)
Steel 5–500 7.84
Glass 9–15 2.60
Polypropylene 20–200 0.90
Nylon – 1.10
Carbon 9 1.90
Acrylic 18 1.18
In addition fourteen 100  100  100 mm cubic specimens for
compression tests were also made with different fiber dosage
and water content (Fig. 7) also to compare the results with those
presented in [4,6,7]. Three specimens in ordinary concrete without
fibers, three specimens with a dosage of ‘‘O’’ fibers equal to 0.75%
of the total weight of the specimen, four specimens with a dosage
of 0.50% of ‘‘O’’ fibers and four specimens with a dosage of 0.50% of
short lamellar fibers were prepared. They were tested in an uniax-
ial testing equipment (MCCC66 controls) following the European
code prescriptions (UNI EN 12390:2009). It consisted of two plates
that applied a load on both sides of the specimen thanks to an elec-
tromechanical starter.
Tensile tests on fibers were also performed; Fig. 8 shows the
test set-up on a short lamellar fiber.
2.4. Results of the second series of tests
The behavior of the different mixtures is put in evidence in the
plots of Figs. 9–13 obtained with Wavemaker software. The data
were recorded from a series of bending tests performed according
to the scheme and details of the first preliminary tests on different
specimens as shown in Section 2.3. A comparison with the results
of the first series of tests was possible too.
The plots in Figs. 9–13 show that the concrete reinforced with
‘‘O’’ fibers with a fiber dosage of 0.75% gave the most satisfactory
results for the ductility of the material. Indeed, while the peak
loads are quite similar for different strengths, the area under the
load–displacement curve is wider for specimens with fiber content
equal to 0.75%. In Fig. 14 the histograms shows the energy dissi-
pated in the post-cracking phase for each specimen.
From the analysis of the plots, it is possible to assert that tests
have confirmed the better behavior of circular fibers than the short
lamellar ones and, in addition, the advantage of a higher dosage of
fibers in increasing the ductility of composite.
These results are also confirmed by the values of the tensile
strength obtained during the bending tests and collected in Table 5.
Regarding the compression tests the results confirm a reduction
of resistance in specimens with fibers compared to those only in
concrete as shown in Table 6. The results have been probably dis-
torted by the difficulties encountered during the piston of the spec-
imens due to their small size. A reduction of compression
resistance has been obtained in [4] with a strength decrease of
1–9% respect to non-reinforced specimens.
Fig. 15 shows the histogram of the average values obtained
from compression tests on different specimens.
The tensile tests on the fibers furnished an average value of ten-
sile strength equal to 150 N/mm2 high enough and comparable
with the other fibers on the market for FRC (Fig. 16).
A comparison of the values of tensile strength for different com-
mercial fibers is shown in Table 7.
3. Conclusions
In this paper the preliminary results of an intense research on
PET fiber-reinforced concrete are shown and discussed.
Elastic modulus (N/mm2) Tensile strength (N/mm2) Ultimate elongation (%)
200,000 500–2000 0.5–3.5
70,000–80,000 2000–4000 2–3.5
5000–7000 500–750 8
4000 900 13–15
230,000 2600 1
14,000–19,500 400–1000 3
The research focuses on the use, as fiber reinforcement, of a
waste material that is widely spread and accumulated because
very utilized for bottles of mineral water and soft drinks. These fi-
bers are made of a synthetic material, polyethylene terephthalate
(PET); this kind of material is difficult to completely destroy or
re-cycling.
In this research it has been proposed the use of PET bottles to
obtain reinforcing fibers to increase the ductility of concrete. The
study is at a preliminary stage, just an approach research with
the aim of checking the idea, that is the behavior of the concrete
reinforced with PET fibers. Good results in terms of increased duc-
tility of the fiber-reinforced concrete have been obtained, pushing
further this research.
The fibers utilized are obtained by simple cuts from these ‘‘plas-
tic’’ bottles, without any processing, in a simple way, reducing
costs of FRC production.
The test results have shown, in fact, that the addition of a very
small amount of fibers from recycled and shredded PET bottles can
have a large influence on the post-cracking behavior of plain con-
crete elements. Both lamellar and ‘‘O’’-shaped fibers greatly im-
prove the toughness of the specimens. The enhancement of the
toughness is especially evident for the ‘‘O’’-fibers and it seems that
their special shape helps to bind the concrete on each side of a
cracked section.
The tests showed that PET fibers in a concrete mixture are likely
to increase the ductility of concrete.
Further research will use ordinary concrete fiber-reinforced
with PET fibers, adding superplasticizer (not used in the tests re-
ported in the present paper), for structural prototypes tested in
bending up to failure. Similarly the compression behavior on larger
samples will be investigated.
Further tests are anticipated with different ratios of fiber-con-
crete admixtures to determine to what extent this effect of increas-
ing ductility of concrete can be optimized.
If it is shown that the addition of these essentially waste mate-
rials in fibers form can be beneficial to every-day concrete con-
struction it would provide an attractive method of disposal of
otherwise useless hazardous waste materials.
Acknowledgements
Prof. Govanni Donatone and Francesco Paparella are gratefully
acknowledged for their help and advices during the tests.
Mapei Italia Group is acknowledge for furnishing the premixed
material for specimens.
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