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

• 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.

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.