Concrete filled PVC tube: A review

The use of plastic tube to encase cementitious composite materials like concrete is reviewed. The polymer plastic tube has several roles in the composite system and is a viable alternative for steel tube in encasing concrete with durability, environmental and economic advantages. The composite system is of particular interest in infrastructure construction applications encountered in marine and saline aggressive environments, where the plastic shell acts as a barrier to prevent the ingress of chlorides and carbon dioxide into the concrete. The mechanical, confinement and deformability features and other specific potential uses of thin walled polyvinyl chloride (PVC) tubular specimens with concrete infill in civil and building construction applications is discussed. These include the general applications of PVC tubes in civil engineering works, Polymeric plastic jacket, material and geometric properties, stay-in-place formwork, PVC tube confined concrete, PVC tube encased in concrete for seismic and other applications. Recommendations for future research in this area are provided for elaborating on other mechanical properties of the composed system.