Concrete with partial replacement of natural aggregate by PET aggregate—An exploratory study about the influence in the compressive strength

Abstract

The expansion of cities contributed to the problems related to the accumulation of waste and lack of control over its management, there are still around 2400 dumps or uncontrolled landfills in Brazil. There is a large volume of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) improperly discarded. In turn, the construction industry has been looking for sustainable ways to produce concrete. This work deals with the analysis of the replacement of PET as a fine aggregate in concrete in the proportions of 5% and 15%. PET particles pass more than 75% in the 2.36 mm opening sieve and have more than 99% of their particle size retained in the 0.15 mm opening sieve. Concrete properties, compressive strength, tensile strength, water absorption and void ratio were evaluated and compared with the reference mix. In total, 45 specimens cast in concrete were used to complete the experiment. The results obtained showed that mixture compositions that incorporate PET as fine aggregates decrease compressive and tensile strength, increase water absorption and void index. The results obtained showed that blending compositions that incorporate PET as fine aggregates decrease compressive strength in about 14%, decrease tensile strength in about 7–11%, increased the void ratio in almost 20% and increased the water absorption in about 30%.