Title: Shear and Flexure Behavior of Reinforced Polymer Concrete Made with Recycled Plastic Wastes

Author(s): K. S. Rebeiz and David W. Fowler

Publication: Symposium Paper

Volume: 166

Issue:

Appears on pages(s): 61-78

Keywords: plastics, polymers, and resins; polymer concrete; recycling; reinforcing steels; shear properties; structural design; wastes; Structural Research

DOI: 10.14359/1479

Date: 12/1/1996

Abstract:
Very little research has been done on the structural behavior of steel-reinforced polymer concrete (PC). In all the previous studied, it was generally assumed that the structural behavior of reinforced PC is similar to the structural behavior of reinforced portland cement concrete because both are composite materials consisting of a binder and inorganic aggregates. However, the design equations developed for steel-reinforced portland cement concrete yield very conservative results when applied to reinforced PC. The objective of this paper is to report on the shear and flexure properties of steel-reinforced PC beams using unsaturated polyester resins based on recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic waste. The effects of the shear span-to-depth ratio, reinforcement ratio, and compressive strength were investigated with the shear beams, while the effect of reinforcement ratio was investigated with the flexure beams. New design equations were also developed to predict the shear and flexural strength of steel-reinforced PC beams.