Effect of waste water bottle and treated sisal fibers on the durability and mechanical properties of concrete

Abstract

Globally, the disposal of waste plastic bottles is challenging. However, many researchers reported the importance of incorporating waste polyethylene-based waste water bottles (WWB) as a fiber and treated sisal fiber separately in the concrete mixture. However, it is novel to reinforce concrete by WWB fiber and treated sisal fiber together for more production of sustainable concrete. So the present study investigated the effect of using different doses of WWB fiber with and without treated sisal fiber on the physical and mechanical properties of concrete. Also, it is detail discussed its effect on concrete durability like in different elevated temperatures and acidic environments. As the result indicates, the reinforcement of concrete by WWB and treated sisal fibers lessens the fresh density and in 5% of HCl solution, it give higher strength and lower mass loss compared to the control concrete. Also, concrete WF25 increased compressive strength by 34.6%, 7.42%, and 3.6% respectively at 28, 56, and 180 days of concrete age, while concrete sample WF100 highly increased the splitting tensile strength of concrete by 26.67% compared to the control concrete mixture. Concrete having only WWB without treated sisal fiber reduced water absorption, increased mass loss, and lessened strength at 200, 300, and 400 °C elevated temperatures. So, this study is significant for implementing improved construction material performance by WWB and treated sisal fibers, as well as supporting the reduction of plastic bottles from the environment.