Effects of recycled PET fibres on the mechanical properties and seawater curing of Portland cement-based concretes

This paper deals with an experimental study on the mechanical properties of recycled polyethylene terephthalate fibre-reinforced concrete (RPETFRC) and its durability in an aggressive seawater environment. A Portland limestone cement-based concrete with a 0.38 water/cement ratio is used to cast cubic and prismatic specimens, in association with two different PET fibres obtained through extrusion of recycled PET flakes (R-PET). Some of these specimens were conditioned in the Salerno harbour seawater for a period of 6/12 months. Compressive strength and four-point bending tests are performed in order to investigate the mechanical properties of such RPETFRCs. Comparison of the present results and those in the literature for air-cured RPETRCs highlights the influence of the analysed R-PET fibres on the mechanical properties of concretes showing different water/cement ratios and binders. The given results for seawater-cured specimens demonstrate that such a curing condition slightly modifies the first-crack strength and markedly reduces the toughness of the RPETFRCs examined in the present work.