Influence of content and particle size of waste pet bottles on concrete behavior at different w/c ratios

The goal of this work Was to Study the mechanical behavior of concrete with recycled Polyethylene Therephtalate (PET), varying the water/cement ratio (0.50 and 0.60), PET content (10 and 20 vol%) and the particle size. Also, the influence of the thermal degradation of PET in the concrete was Studied, when the blends were exposed to different temperatures (200, 400, 600 degrees C). Results indicate that PET-filled concrete, when volume proportion and particle size of PET increased, showed a decrease in compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, modulus of elasticity and ultrasonic pulse velocity: however, the water absorption increased. On the other hand, the flexural strength of concrete-PET when exposed to a heat source was strongly dependent on the temperature, water/cement ratio, is well as on the PET content and particle size. Moreover, the activation energy was affected by the temperature, PET particles location on the slabs and water/cement ratio. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.