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

Construction and Building Materials 61 (2014) 293–302 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Construction and Building Materials journal homepage: /lo cate/conbuildmat Effects of recycled PET fibres on the mechanical properties and seawater curing of Portland cement-based concretes Fernando Fraternali ⇑, Saverio Spadea, Valentino P. Berardi University of Salerno, Department of Civil Engineering, Viale Ponte don Melillo, 84084 Fisciano, SA, Italy h i g h l i g h t s We present an experimental study on the mechanical properties and seawater curing of RPETFRC. We examine compressive strength, first crack strength, and energy absorption capacity of RPETFRC. Special attention is given to the influence of the mix-design on RPETFRC properties. The presented results show that seawater conditioning significantly lowers the ultimate ductility of the analysed RPETFRC. The same conditioning instead leads to minor modifications of the compressive strength and first-crack strength. a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: This paper deals with an experimental study on the mechanical properties of recycled polyethylene tere- Received 9 January 2014 phthalate fibre-reinforced concrete (RPETFRC) and its durability in an aggressive seawater environment. Received in revised form 12 March 2014 A Portland limestone cement-based concrete with a 0.38 water/cement ratio is used to cast cubic and Accepted 17 March 2014 prismatic specimens, in association with two different PET fibres obtained through extrusion of recycled Available online 5 April 2014