Case Studies in Construction Materials 13 (2020) e00367

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Short communication

Strength behavior of reinforced concrete beam using re-cycle

of PET wastes as synthetic fibers
Hamsa M. Adnan1 , Abbas O. Dawood2,*
1
Postgradute student/Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Misan, Maysan, Iraq
2
Assistant Professor/ Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Misan, Maysan, Iraq

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Article history: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the mechanical properties of normal concrete (NC)
Received 15 January 2020 containing polyethylene terephthalate waste fibers (PETWF). In addition to check the
Received in revised form 1 April 2020 influence the waste has on the behavior of reinforced concrete beams, five mixtures of NC
Accepted 22 April 2020
with 0.41 of w/c ratio were tested. The mixtures contain four NC mixtures with various
percentages of PETWF in different shapes and lengths. After that, the behavior of four
Keywords: 150
200
1400 mm simply supported concrete beams, including different percentages
Normal concrete
of the wastes within the concrete mixture was investigated via the influence of the wastes
Polyethylene terephthalate waste fibers
Machine fibers & hand fibers
on the strengths and serviceability of concrete beams. Suitable tests were carried out to
Ultimate load assess mechanical characteristics of mixtures that contain the plastic waste and compared
Ductility indices with that of the control mixture. The tests variables of reinforced concrete beams included
Initial stiffness load-deflection behavior, cracking investigation, ductility indices, and stiffness. Testing of
Secant stiffness reinforced concrete beams showed a little decrease in the ultimate failure load of the
specimens and secant stiffness. Nevertheless, there was prominent improvement in
ductility behavior for all beams, especially in the hybrid beam, and also increase in the
initial stiffness.
© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC
BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction

Plastic waste is the main environmental problem facing worldwide in general and Maysan province in particular
nowadays. Their random distribution with the absence of correct ways for collection, transmission, and processing of the
wastes as well as the weakness of the environmental awareness of the citizens concerning the phenomenon due to
population increases, and also, the development of polluting industries complicates the problem [1]. However, the recycling
concept can reduce the problem of the accumulation of plastic waste, and one of the possible ways of recycling these wastes
is using them in concrete construction.
One of the techniques to reduce the plastic waste impact on the environment and reduce the cost of disposal is recycling it
in the form of construction material as replacement of sand or gravel or as fiber added to the concrete. In the past two
decades, research and studies have been conducted, which were aimed at understanding the behavior of the concrete
members after strengthening them with Polyethylene terephthalate fibers and recycled fibers from different materials.
The recycling concept of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle wastes as fibers added to the mixture was studied by
many researchers.

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: abbasoda03@uomisan.edu.iq (A.O. Dawood).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cscm.2020.e00367
2214-5095/© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
2 H.M. Adnan, A.O. Dawood / Case Studies in Construction Materials 13 (2020) e00367

In 2011, Oliveira and Castro-Gomes [2] added PET bottles as fibers to the concrete mixture in different percentages, and
the fibers were shredded into 35 mm length at a constant 2 mm width and 0.5 mm thickness. Their results showed that 1.5%
of fibers were the optimum percentage for the mix performance.
Also, Foti [3] used two forms of polyethylene terephthalate PET fibers (circular and strips). The results demonstrated that
these fibers improve the ductility of concrete Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers and can be used as discrete
reinforcement of specimens added to the concrete beams in substitution of steel bars. Three forms of fibers were used;
circular fibers, half bottle form to formalize as long PET strips similar to the reinforcement bars in the concrete beams, and
the third form was a strip cutting from PET bottles with dimensions (45
0.2
300 mm). By observing the behavior of
concrete containing Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers, the researcher reached to the following two conclusions; a high
concrete-PET adherence, and a more ductile behavior [4].
In addition, Subramani and Rahman [5] added PET bottle as fibers to the concrete mixture in a percentage of (2, 4, and 6) by
volume of the mixture with dimensions (0.6 mm thickness, 5 mm width, and 30 mm length). They observed that 4 % of PET fibers
by volume fraction were the optimum percentage for all tests. In 2017, the usage of PET fibers in the manufacturing of the
ecological concrete mixture was assessed via optimizing the compressive and tensile mechanical properties by Lopes Pereira
et al. [6]. In 2018, Khalid et al. [7] presented a comparative analysis of using different wastes in concrete mixes that included
waste wires with length of 55 mm, irregularly shaped polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers with size of 10–15 mm, ring-
shaped polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers with widths of 10 and 5 mm, and manufactured synthetic macro-fibers.
Furthermore, many researchers focused on using more than one type of plastic waste within the mixture. In 2011, Fraternali
et al. [8] used two types of waste; polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) as fibers with different lengths. The
compressive strength, thermal conductivity, ductility indices, and first crack strength tests were accomplished. Their results
showed that the mixture that contains polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers increases the flexural and compressive strength
by 22% and 35%, respectively, as compared to both unreinforced concrete and PP fibers reinforced concrete. Also, Yesilata et al. [9]
used two types of wastes; polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and automobile tire pieces which were added to normal concrete to
check heat insulation behaviors of the specimens. The outcomes detected that the suitable addition of the waste into the
concrete mixture could improve thermal insulation performance and significantly reduce heat loss.
A cement-based mortar reinforced by PET strips which was acquired through manual cutting of ordinary post-consumer
bottles was studied by Fraternali et al. [10]. In 2014, Foti and Paparella [11] utilized PET as discrete reinforcement of concrete
slabs in substitution of steel bars. PET strips were arranged as a grid into a slab that was tested for impact load. They reached
that the PET reinforcement gave a very ductile behavior to the concrete slabs, which allowed them to avoid complete failure.
Mahdi et al. 2013 [12,13] used PET as a replace binding material in venue of the commonly utilized ordinary Portland cement
to output polymer concrete (PC) and polymer mortar (PM).
In additional to PET wastes, many types of research focused on using other types of plastic wastes as fibers within the
concrete, such as plastic bag waste fibers (PBWF). Ghernouti et al. [14] conducted a practical study for using plastic bag waste
fibers (PBWF) as fibers in the self-compacting concrete (SCC) with various amounts of plastic bag waste fibers content (7, 5, 3,
and 1 kg/m3) and lengths (2, 4, and 6 cm). The total amounts of aggregates, cement, water, fillers, and superplasticizer were
all preserved invariable. They observed that the properties of the SCC mixture in both fresh and hardened concrete were
improved; polypropylene fibers (WPF), waste metallic fibers (WMF) [15], and polypropylene wastes (PP) [16,17].
In the present study, the mechanical characteristics of concrete mixtures (flexural and compressive strength) with
various percentages of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers were evaluated. Furthermore, the behavior of reinforced
concrete beams that included different percentages of PET fibers was investigated via failure load and deflection.

2. Program work

The experimental program included pouring many concrete mixtures to investigate the influence of polyethylene
terephthalate (PET) fibers dosage on the concrete characteristics; two types of PET fibers (hand and machine fibers) with
different proportions were used to select the optimum percentage. Then, the selected mixes were used in casting a structural
reinforced concrete beams specimens to examine the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers effect on the behavior of these
specimens, in which four concrete beams with various percentages of PET fibers were cast and compared with the reference
beam. The evaluation of different mixes was accomplished via compressive and flexural strengths in addition to concrete
workability.

2.1. Materials

2.1.1. Cement
Ordinary Portland cement type I was employed in this paper, in which its properties satisfied the requirements of the Iraqi
Specification No. 5/1984 [18]. All the characteristics of the cement are offered in Tables 1 and 2.

2.1.2. Aggregates
In this paper, the natural crushed stone aggregate with 20 mm maximum size and natural sand with 4.75 mm maximum
size obtained from Al- Basra region, in the south of Iraq, were used as a coarse and fine aggregate, respectively. Tables 3 and 4
offers the gradation of both aggregates which were tabulated according to the Iraqi Specification No.45/1984 [19].
 H.M. Adnan, A.O. Dawood / Case Studies in Construction Materials 13 (2020) e00367 3

Table 1
Chemical components of cement.

Oxide composition Abbreviation Content (percent) Limit of Iraqi specification

By weight No.5/1984 [18]

Lime CaO 63.96 –

Silica SiO2 21.32 –
Alumina AL2O3 4.58 –
Iron Oxide Fe2O3 3.25 –
Sulphate SO3 2.48 <2.8%
Magnesia MgO 2.75 5%
Loss on Ignition L.O.I 3.46 4%
Insoluble residue I.R 1.07 1.5%
Lime saturation factor L.S.F 0.97 0.661.02

Main compounds (Bogue's equations)

Tricalcium Silicate C3S 50.69 –
Di Calcium Silicate C2S 18.28 –
Tri-Calcium Aluminate C3A 8.14 –
Tetra Calcium Alumina Ferrite C4AF 9.89 –

Table 2
Physical characteristics of cement.

Physical properties Test Result Limits of Iraqi Specification

NO.5/1984 [18]
Fineness Using Blain Air Permeability Apparatus (m2/kg) 384 230
Setting time Using Victa's Method
Initial (hrs: min.) 2:00  0:45 min
Final (hrs: min.) 3:45  10 h
Soundness Using Autoclave Method 0.22 < 0.8
The compressive strength of mortar
3 Days, MPa 20.8 15
7 Days, MPa 27.4 23
28 Days, MPa 34.7

Table 3
Gradation of fine aggregate.

Sieve size (mm) Percent passing % Cumulative passing % Limits of Iraqi

specification No.45/1984 [19]
10 100 100
4.75 95.6 90100
2.36 87.73 75100
1.18 76.04 5590
0.60 50.25 3559
0.3 11.75 830
0.15 2.4 010

2.1.3. Admixture
The liquid type superplasticizer PC 260 (modified polycarboxylates based polymer) was utilized in this study and
conformed to ASTM C494-99 types A and G [20]. According to the technical specification, the dosage is ranged from 0.5 to
4.0 L per 100 kg of the binder.

2.1.4. Steel reinforcement

In this research, two sizes of steel bars were employed (f10, f12). The deformed steel bars of No.13 (#4 according to
ASTM A615) [21] were employed as tension reinforcement and No.10 (#3 according to ASTM A615) [21] for shear
reinforcement, and for anchored top bars to fix the stirrups. Table 5 displays the properties of reinforcing bars.

2.1.5. Polyethylene Terephthalate Fiber (PETF)

The used polyethylene terephthalate waste is commonly available in two forms, small and large PET bottles. The large
bottles have a random shape (irregular-shaped fibers) with a maximum size not exceeded by 25.4 mm, named machine
fibers as shown in Fig. 1a. The grading of machine fibers is not closer to the grading of sand or gravel according to the Iraqi
4 H.M. Adnan, A.O. Dawood / Case Studies in Construction Materials 13 (2020) e00367

Table 4
Gradation of coarse aggregate.

NO Sieve size %Passing

% Coarse Aggregate Iraqi specification No. 45/1984 [19]

1 37.5 mm 100 100
2 20 mm 95 9510
3 10 mm 39.83 3060
4 5 mm 1.145 010

Table 5
Properties of steel reinforcement.

Bar type Bar diameter Bar area Yield strength Tensile strength Yield strain
(mm) (mm2) fy(MPa) fu (MPa)
Longitudinal steel bars 10 78.5 515 624 0.00258
Steel stirrups
Longitudinal steel bars 12 113.04 493 583 0.00247

Fig. 1. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste Fibers (a) Machine fibers. (b) Hand fibers.

Specification No.45/1984 [19] as shown in Table 6, while the small bottles have an approximately rectangular shape with
average length (40 mm) and width (4 mm), named hand fibers as shown in Fig. 1b.

2.1.6. Recycled polyethylene terephthalate waste Fiber (PETWF)

The used recycled polyethylene terephthalate waste fiber (PETWF) was formed from polyethylene terephthalate waste.
Polyethylene terephthalate waste was acquired from waste containers in Maysan province, in southern Iraq. As mentioned
earlier, Polyethylene terephthalate waste is employed with two forms; machine fibers and hand fibers. Machine fibers were
clipped into irregular-shaped fibers using special machines manufactured for research purposes as shown in Fig. 2. This
machine has a weight of almost 200 kg, with dimensions (116 cm length, 45 cm width, and 150 cm height), and a capacity up
to 20 bottles. Also, it contains a rear motor which has a diameter of 16 cm approximately. At the top, a small door opens to
insert the bottles, containing sharp blades to cut off the bottles, and in the bottom, a filter with openings which can be
 H.M. Adnan, A.O. Dawood / Case Studies in Construction Materials 13 (2020) e00367 5

Table 6
Grading of machine PET fibers.

Sieve size Cumulative % passing

38.5 mm 100
25.4 mm 97.7
19 mm 80.55
12.7 mm 45.08
9.5 mm 24.485
4.75 mm 10.755
1.18 mm 8.467

Fig. 2. The machine used to cut plastic waste (a) front view. (b) Side view of the machine shows the motor of the machine. (c) Inclined view of the machine.
(d) The internal composition of the machine. (e) Side view of blades. (f) Cutting blades.

changed at anytime according to the required fiber size; the steps of producing machine fibers are illustrated in Fig. 3. Small
bottles cannot be cut by the machine due to their relatively small thickness. Therefore, they are clipped into regular-shaped
fibers manually (hand fibers); the steps of producing hand fibers are illustrated in Fig. 4. The main goal of this research is to
recycle as much PET wastes in concrete as possible. Therefore, two percentages of PET were used. The first percentage is 1.5%
as the optimum percentage, according to literature, that improves the concrete performance, which is used in the
compressive zone or in applications that required good quality concrete. The second percentage is 3% as a maximum
percentage of PET that could be added to concrete to be used in tension zone or applications that do not require high-quality
concrete, in which percentages greater than 3% failed to produce homogenous concrete.

2.2. Mixture proportioning

The reference mixture is designed according to the ACI Recommended Practice 211.1 and checked by trial batches. Each
concrete mixture consisted of 1024 kg/m3 coarse aggregate, 649.644 kg/m3 fine aggregate, 201.38 kg/m3 water, 3.961 kg/m3
superplasticizer, and a water/cement ratio of 0.41. Mixture proportions of concrete with polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
waste fibers are offered in Table 7, where two percentages of these fibers were added to the concrete mixture by volume.
6 H.M. Adnan, A.O. Dawood / Case Studies in Construction Materials 13 (2020) e00367

Fig. 3. Steps to prepare the particles of irregular machine PET fibers.

Fig. 4. Steps to prepare the particles of regular hand PET fibers.

Table 7
Concrete mixture proportion.

Material(Kg/m3) PET % Regular hand fibers Irregular machine fibers

0% 1.5% 3% 1.5% 3%
Cement 495.12 495.12 495.12 495.12 495.12
Sand 649.64 649.64 649.64 649.64 649.64
Gravel 1024 1024 1024 1024 1024
Water 201.38 201.38 201.38 201.38 201.38
PL – 6.705* 13.41* 21.15# 42.3#
SP 3.961 3.961 3.961 3.961 3.961
*
Percentage of PET
Density of small PET.
#
Percentage of PET
Density of large PET.

2.3. Preparation of test specimens

Mixing steps: First, all materials required for each mixture were weighed and placed in a clean area. Then, gravel and sand
were washed with clean water and left to dry before mixing. The mixing process started by adding sand to the gravel.
Afterward, the waste and cement were added to the concrete mixture. Finally, the water and superplasticizer were appended
to the mixture gradually with continuous mixing.
One of the problems encountered during the mixing was the difficulty of mixing due to the presence of plastic waste which
reduces the workability of the mixture. Therefore, superplasticizer was used to overcome this obstacle. The other problem was
the segregation that occurs when the mixture is shaken using the vibrator, so, manual shaking was used to overcome it.
Casting and curing of specimens: Initially, the wooden molds were prepared to grease the inner sides, and the
reinforcement cages were installed into the mold. Afterward, concrete was cast into the mold by three layers with
compaction using a vibrator. Finally, the top concrete surface for each mold was leveled. All beams were de-molded after one
day and covered with a sheet and watered from time to time to keep the humidity during the curing time that finished after
28 days in order to prepare the beams for testing (see Fig. 5).

2.4. Fresh concrete test

Workability is one of the important characteristics that determine the fresh properties of concrete. Concrete is said to be
applicable when it had appropriate consistency, handled without segregation, cast without loss in homogeneity, and
 H.M. Adnan, A.O. Dawood / Case Studies in Construction Materials 13 (2020) e00367 7

Fig. 5. Casting and curing of beams.

compacted with less effort. Workability was estimated by means of a slump test ˗˗ this test is prescribed in accordance with
ASTM C143 [22] as shown in Fig. 6.

2.5. Hardened mechanical tests

To recognize the impact of the waste on the mechanical characteristics of the concrete mixture, six cubes with
dimensions of (100
100
100) mm and six prisms with dimensions of (100
100
500) mm were cast for each
percentage of waste to calculate compressive and flexural strengths, respectively.

2.5.1. Compressive strength test

The British standards BS1881: Part 16:1983 [23] was adopted to inspect the compressive strength of the mixture using
cubical (100
100
100) mm specimens for testing. This test was accomplished in Misan University, College of Engineering,
utilizing a compression machine with a capacity of 2000 kN as shown in Fig. 7.
8 H.M. Adnan, A.O. Dawood / Case Studies in Construction Materials 13 (2020) e00367

Fig. 6. The slump cone used in the slump test.

Fig. 7. Compressive strength test.

2.5.2. Flexural strength test

The ASTM- C78 [24] was adopted to examine the flexural strength of the concrete mixture using prism with dimensions
(100
100
500) mm specimens for testing. This test was completed in Misan University, College of Engineering, using
Flexural apparatus with a capability of 50 kN as shown in Fig. 8.

Fig. 8. Flexural strength Test.

 H.M. Adnan, A.O. Dawood / Case Studies in Construction Materials 13 (2020) e00367 9

Table 8
Result of slump test for PET plastic waste.

Reduction in Slump % Limit of ENV 206 [30] Workability classification Slump Test Plastic Plastic waste type
mm Perc. (%)

– >160 mm S4: High workability 200 0

12.5 >160 mm S4: High workability 175 1.5 HF* PET
40 100150 mm S3: Medium workability 120 3
#
14 >160 mm S4: High workability 172 1.5 MF
42.5 100150 mm S3: Medium workability 115 3
*
HF (Hand Fiber).
#
MF (Machine Fiber).

3. Test results of concrete mixture

3.1. Fresh concrete test

In the previous section of this paper, the goal was to find out the effect of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers on the
workability of the mixture. The outcomes acquired for a slump test for different mixtures were presented in Table 8. From the
results offered in the table and Fig. 9, the slump decreased as PET fibers percentage increased. The same conclusion was
proved by another study [25] where large percentage of metalized plastic waste fibers in the mixture caused reduction in the
workability of the mixture. Also, other studies got the same results about the reduction of workability by using PET particles
of plastic waste as a partial alternative of aggregates [26–29].The reduction of a slump for machine PET fibers with dosages
1.5% and 3% are 14% and 42.5%, respectively. The decrease in the slump was related to many factors such as the shape of
plastic waste which is usually sharp-edged and irregular, and increase in the surface area of particles, leading to consuming
more water from the mix. The effect is minimized by using superplasticizer admixture. Regardless of the slump reduction,
the concrete mixtures with PET fibers are appropriate for use in precast and cast-in-situ concrete applications and have easy
workability.
From Fig. 9, the linear equations represent the relationship between the slump and the PET percentage which is shown as
follows
Slump = 26.667 (% PET) + 205 (1)

a Machine fiber PET

Slump = 28.333 (% PET) + 204.83 (2)

3.2. Hardened concrete tests

3.2.1. Compressive strength

The compressive strength of concrete mixtures with various PET contents was investigated using the cubic samples of
10 cm prepared. For each testing age, the average strength of three cubes was registered. Twenty-four samples de-molded
after one day, then cured in a water tank. The averaged compressive strengths of specimens after 7 and 28 days for each

Fig. 9. The slump of PET waste concrete mixtures for various percentages.
10 H.M. Adnan, A.O. Dawood / Case Studies in Construction Materials 13 (2020) e00367

Table 9
Compressive strengths of specimens at the age of 7 and 28 days (MPa).

7=28 days Changing in Compressive strength (%) Compressive strength (fcu) MPa Plastic Percentage (%) Plastic waste type

28 Days 7 Days
0.69 – 37.9 26.4 0
0.75 +2.11 38.7 28.93 1.5 Mf PET
0.91 +1.5 38.47 35.2 3
– +42.08 53.85 – 1.5 HF
– 17.8 31.17 – 3
3 3 Number of specimens

mixture are given in Table 9. Through checking Fig. 10, the specimens containing machine PET fibers showed a slight elevate
in the strength for both dosages 3% and 1.5%, namely 1.5% and 2.11%, respectively. With respect to adding 1.5% hand PET fibers,
it caused 42.08% of the increase in compressive strength and this output is compatible with the findings of Oliveira et al. [2],
while the 3% adding of hand PET fibers led to drop in compressive strength by about 17.75%. Fig. 11 offered the failure mode of
the specimen without PET fibers and the specimens with 1.5% and 3% PET fibers after the test. As noticed in the figure, the
cubes with the reference mixture divide into two segments after failure. On the other hand, the cubes containing PET fibers
did not split as pieces but kept its shape with some cracks on the surface of the specimens.

3.2.2. Flexural strength

As mentioned in a previous part of the study, to find the impact of the proportion of fibers on the flexural strength of the
concrete mixture, six prisms from each mixture with dimensions of (10
10
50) cm3 were studied. The averaged flexural
strengths of the three specimens after 7 and 28 days are given in Table 10. As observed in Fig. 12, when the quantities of fibers
increased, the modulus of rupture had a rising tendency at initial, but this strength declines after a while. For instance, the
1.5% adding hand PET fibers present 8.38% increase in strength, and this result was compatible with the findings of Oliveira
et al. [2], where large percentage of PET fibers in the mixture was caused by increasing the modulus of rupture of the mixture.
As well, 3% adding hand PET fibers showed 4.7% lowering in flexural strength. While the specimens containing machine PET
fibers displayed a slight decrease in flexural strength for both dosages 1.5% and 3%, namely 6.18 % and 4.28%, respectively.
Thus, PET in both shapes had a slight effect on the flexural strength. Fig. 13 showed flexural failure modes of plain concrete
prisms without PET fibers and the specimens with 1.5% and 3% PET fibers after the flexural strength test. As observed in the
figure, the prisms with the reference mixture break completely into two separated parts after failure but a sewing effect
between the two parts of the prisms was noticed due to the presence of fibers. Thus, the inclusion of PET fibers into a mixture
of concrete prisms improves their ductility and then improves the concrete performance. So, PET samples can produce some
overlap between the broken surfaces due to the private form and resilience of the PETfull beam failure.

4. Testing of reinforced concrete beams

All reinforced concrete beams were designed to ensure that the section fails in flexure with sufficient shear resistance,
namely, withstand shear force. To assess the shear reinforcement and the flexural reinforcement, all specimens were
designed according to ACI 318-95 Code [31].

Fig. 10. Result of compressive strength for PET type.

 H.M. Adnan, A.O. Dawood / Case Studies in Construction Materials 13 (2020) e00367 11

Fig. 11. Failure modes of concrete cubes with a percentage of (0, 1.5, and 3) % PET, respectively.

Table 10
Result of flexural strength for all types of plastic waste.
pffiffiffiffiffiffi
a fr = a f‘c f`c 7=28days Flexural strength fr MPa Plastic Percentage (%) W/C Plastic waste type

28 Days 7 Days
0.82 30.3 0.88 4.53 4 0
0.76 30.96 0.85 4.25 3.617 1.5 0.41 MF PET
0.78 30.8 0.88 4.336 3.82 3
0.75 43.12 0.89 4.91 4.4 1.5 HF
0.86 24.94 0.84 4.317 3.61 3

Based on the results of flexural and compressive strength tests, the mixture containing the optimum proportion of fibers
was used to examine the impact of the waste on the behavior of reinforced concrete beams via deflection at mid-span,
ultimate load, cracking investigation, ductility, and stiffness.
At the structural laboratory of the College of Engineering, Misan University, the testing machine shown in Fig. 14 was
utilized for a four-point bending test using the manual hydraulic jack for application of the load. The distance between the
two points of loads applications is 440 mm. The loads were applied in successive increments of 5 kN until reaching the failure
load. At each load increment, observations were recorded such as first crack, deflection, and drawing crack patterns.
To calculate the deflection reading for each beam at every load stage, dial gauge was put beneath the mid-span of the
specimen and had an accuracy of 0.01 mm with a maximum reading of 5 cm as shown in Fig. 15.
12 H.M. Adnan, A.O. Dawood / Case Studies in Construction Materials 13 (2020) e00367

Fig. 12. Result of Flexural strength for PET type, a) Machine PET fibers b) Hand PET fibers.

Fig. 13. Failure modes of concrete prisms with different percentage of PET fibers (a) 0 %. (b) 1.5%. (c) 3%.

4.1. Details of concrete beams

Four reinforced concrete beams of size 150
200
1400 mm with different percentages of PET fibers were tested after
twenty-eight days in this study. Wooden molds were employed for casting the reinforced concrete beams as shown in Fig. 16.
All molds consisted of a wooden base and four moving sides that are connected to the base with bolts and screws.
As presented in Fig. 17, each beam was reinforced with two bars of No.13 (#4) as tension reinforcement, stirrups
reinforcement of No.10 (#3) at 60 mm spacing, and two top bars of No.10 (#3) as anchorage bars to fix the stirrups.

4.2. Test variables

A total of four reinforced concrete beams with various variables were tested in the present study. The test variables
included the shape of PET wastes added to the mixture (irregular machine fibers and regular hand fibers) and cross-section of
beams (homogenous or hybrid) as shown in Tables 11 and 12 and Fig. 18.
 H.M. Adnan, A.O. Dawood / Case Studies in Construction Materials 13 (2020) e00367 13

Fig. 14. Testing machine.

Fig. 15. Dial gauge.

4.3. Load- deflection behavior

The calculated deflection and load values from the flexural tests were tabulated in Table 13. As offered in the table, the
maximum failure load of the reference beam which had a homogeneous section of normal concrete without any PET fibers
was 82.5 kN. Also, the test data displayed in the table exhibited that the reinforced concrete beams containing machine PET
fibers and hand PET fibers with fiber volume portion of 1.5% had ultimate failure load decreases of 9.09% and 12.12%,
respectively, compared to the reference beam. Thus, PET fibers slightly reduced the ultimate load and could be used for the
objective of minimizing the impact of plastic waste on the environment without affecting the performance of the beams.
To use as many plastic wastes within concrete beams as possible, a hybrid-section of the reinforced concrete beam was
investigated. In the upper part of the beam section above the neutral axis (Compression Zone), the concrete mixture with an
optimum percentage of PET fibers was used; namely 1.5% of machine PET fibers. While in the lower part of the beam section
below the neutral axis (Tension Zone), the concrete mixture with the largest percentage of plastic wastes were used, namely
14 H.M. Adnan, A.O. Dawood / Case Studies in Construction Materials 13 (2020) e00367

Fig. 16. Beam molds and reinforcement.

Fig. 17. Details of the reinforced concrete beam.

Table 11
Beams variables.

No. Beam Designation PET shape Cross section Percentage of plastic waste Waste replacement
1 B1-0-ho-0% – Homogenous 0% –
2 B2-mPET-ho- 1.5% Machine fiber Homogenous 1.5 % Fiber by volume of mixture
3 B3-hPET-ho-1.5% Hand fiber Homogenous 1.5 % Fiber by volume of mixture
4 B4-hy-1.5%mPET- 3%hPET Machine and Hybrid 1.5% hand fibers in the compression zone. Fiber by volume of the mixture
hand fibers 3% machine fiber in the Tension zone

3% of hand PET fibers. The depth of the compression zone was 50 mm which was slightly greater than the required depth of
rectangular compressive stress distribution that equilibrates rebar tensile forces at the failure state. The use of a hybrid
section beam yields ultimate loads of 85% of the reference beam; namely, acceptable results are taking into account the
amount of plastic wastes that were recycled into the concrete beams. The beam which had 1.5% and 3% of PET fibers in
compression and tension zones, respectively, showed a reduction in the ultimate load of 14.5%.
From curves plotted in Fig.19, the flexible behavior of all reinforced concrete beams prior to cracking was similar even though
the percentage of fibers was different. Prior to the failure of tensile reinforcement, the inception of cracks happened earlier in the
 H.M. Adnan, A.O. Dawood / Case Studies in Construction Materials 13 (2020) e00367 15

Table 12
Beams details.

Beam Name Constituent A form of plastic used

B1-0-ho-0%-S Reference beam with normal mixture –
B2-mPET-ho-1.5% Beam with an optimum* mixture of machine PET fibers pieces that equal to 1.5%
by volume of the mix

B3-hPET-ho-1.5% Beam with an optimum* mixture of hand PET fibers that equal to 1.5% by volume
of the mix

B4-hy-1.5%mPET- 3%hPET Beam with two mixtures (Hybrid PET fibers) one of them in the compression
part that consists of 1.5 % machine PET fibers and the other in the tension part
consists of 3 % hand PET fibers

Fig. 18. Beams details.

16 H.M. Adnan, A.O. Dawood / Case Studies in Construction Materials 13 (2020) e00367

Table 13
Load and deflection values of reinforced concrete beams.

Beam No. Fcu (MPa) Pcr (kN) Py (kN) Pu (kN) Dcr (mm) Dy (mm) Du (mm) Pu/PRef. (%) Reduction in ultimate
load (%)
B1 35.8 35 80 82.5 1.2 3 12.65 100 –
B2 39.5 45 75 75 3.03 2.5 20.05 90.9 9.09
B3 43.1 40 72.5 72.5 1.79 2 15.05 87.87 12.12
B4 N/A 35 70.5 70.5 1.35 1.25 25.05 85.45 14.5

Fig. 19. Load-deflection curves for beams.

reference beam than in the PET fiber reinforced concrete beams (PETFRCB), except in the hybrid beam. Once the reinforcing rebar
begins to fail, the beams containing the PET fiber will present better resistance to cracking from the reference beam.
Thence, the machine PET fiber reinforced concrete beams (PETFRCB) exhibited comparable orientation observed in hand
PET fiber reinforced concrete beams (PETFRCB).

4.4. Cracking investigation

Cracking is the development in concrete when applied tensile stress exceeds the tensile strength of concrete. The crack
patterns of all beams at the failure stage are shown in Fig. 20. The cracks were concentrated at the mid-span in the beams,
except in the beam without PET fiber and the cracks, almost, were spread along the beam span except for the shear region.
Obviously, cracks are formed at the center of the beam. Cracks which are formed at the lower part of the specimens proceed
across the upper part and are expanded through ultimate failure loads. The specimens with PET fibers exhibit a flexural
failure mode and this failure mode proved the validity of the previous design that the beams fail in the flexure

Fig. 20. Crack patterns for beams tested.

 H.M. Adnan, A.O. Dawood / Case Studies in Construction Materials 13 (2020) e00367 17

Table 14
Ductility and stiffness of the tested beam.

Beam Pu Du Dy Ductility index Relative ductility Initial stiffness Relative initial Secant stiffness Relative secant
Name (kN) (mm) (mm) (Du/Dy) index (Pu/Dy) stiffness (Pu/Du) stiffness
B1 82.5 12.65 3 4.21 – 27.5 – 6.5 –
B2 75 20.05 2.5 8.02 1.9 30 1.09 3.7 0.57
B3 72.5 15.05 2 7.525 1.78 36.25 1.32 4.82 0.74
B4 70.5 25.05 1.25 20.04 4.76 56.4 2.05 2.8 0.43

4.5. Ductility

Ductility is the structural member’s capacity to afford inelastic distortions beyond yield distortion without a significant
load in its load-carrying capability. The ductility index (m) can be determined from the curve that connects between the load
and deflection by dividing the maximum deflection (Du) on the yield deflection (Dy) [32] as shown in the equation below:
Du
The ductility index ðmDÞ  ¼ ð3Þ
 Dy
The ductility for all concrete beams is presented in Table 14. With a view to illustrate the calculation method of the ductility
indices results offered in the table, the calculation procedure of the ductility indices for each beam is based on Fig. 21.
As offered in the table, the reinforced concrete beams with PET fibers have a relative ductility index of 1.78–4.76, which is
almost 1–5 times larger than the ductility indexof the reference beamwithout PET fiber. Notably, the hybrid beam had the largest
ductility index results; this ductility behavior was shown earlier in the load-deflection curve, which reflects the ductility
provided by PET fibers. Thus, the inclusion of PET fiber waste in any shape improves the reinforced concrete beams ductility.

4.6. Stiffness

In order to find the stiffness of the reinforced concrete members (RCM), two methods were used in past researches
[33–38]. In this research, initial stiffness and secant stiffness method (effective stiffness) was used to calculate the stiffness of
reinforced concrete specimens. Also, stiffness can be calculated from the load-deflection curve by dividing the maximum
applied load (Pu) either on the ultimate deflection (Du) in the case of secant stiffness or on the yield deflection (Dy) in the

Fig. 21. The calculation method of ductility index [33].

18 H.M. Adnan, A.O. Dawood / Case Studies in Construction Materials 13 (2020) e00367

Fig. 22. The calculation method of stiffness. (a) Initial stiffness. (b) Secant stiffness. [33].

case of initial stiffness. Thence, generally, the reinforced concrete beam that has a minimum deflection and maximum
ultimate load will have a higher stiffness. The equations used are shown below:
Pu
Initial stiffness  ¼ ð4Þ
Dy

Pu
Secant stiffness  ¼ ð5Þ
Du
The stiffness for all reinforced concrete beams was offered in Table 14. To clarify the calculation method of the stiffness
outputs displayed in the table, the calculation procedure of the stiffness for each beam is based on Fig. 22.
As displayed in the table, the stiffness of the reference beam without any PET fibers was 6.5 kN/mm. Also, the test data
displayed in the table exhibited that the reinforced concrete beams containing machine PET fibers and hand PET fibers had
relative stiffness decreases of 0.430.74 compared to the reference beam.
Thus, the results prove that the stiffness of reinforced concrete beams with PET fiber lowers as the ratio of PET fibers
increases. This decrease was observed in the hybrid beam because it has the lowest ultimate load and the highest ultimate
deflection due to the increase in the percentage of PET fiber in the tension zone, which amounted to 3%

5. Summary and concluding remarks

From the current study, the following conclusions were drawn:

 The workability of fresh concrete decrease with increased content of PET fibers for all mixtures.
 From the hardened concrete tests, the incorporation of PET fibers in the mixture decreases the flexural strength and
improves the compressive strength. All of the mixtures meet the increasing of the compressive strength, except for
mixture made with 3% hand PET fibers. While the mixture made with 1.5% hand PET fibers was the only mixture which
causes increase in the flexural strength.
 In spite of the little decreasing in the flexural strength, the presence of PET fibers within the mixture prohibits the sudden
break of specimens, which mean the two parts of the specimen remain attached to each other.
 All reinforced concrete beams with PET fibers had a slight decreasing in ultimate load, as compared with the reference
beam.
 In spite of the little decreasing in the ultimate load, the presence of PET fibers with the concrete mixture of beams had a
positive effect on the ductility behavior of them all. This effect can reach almost 2–5 times the ductility of the reference
beam. This behavior much is observed in the hybrid beam.
 All beams containing PET fibers had lower secant stiffness than that of the reference beam. In the same time, the initial
stiffness rise with the rising percentage of PET fibers in the concrete mixture of the beam.

Declaration of Competing Interest

All authors worked together to accomplish this work in all stages.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.
The authors have no affiliation with any organization with any financial interest in the subject matter discussed in the
manuscript.
 H.M. Adnan, A.O. Dawood / Case Studies in Construction Materials 13 (2020) e00367 19

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