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This paper reviews latest research on using macro plastic fibres to reinforce concrete.
Effects of macro plastic fibres on fresh and hardened concrete properties are summarised.
Macro plastic fibre reinforced concretes show excellent post-cracking performance.
Degradation and pull-out behaviour of macro plastic fibre in concrete are reviewed.
Cost and environmental benefits and applications of fibre reinforced concrete are discussed.
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history: Use of macro plastic fibres to reinforce concrete has attracted widespread attention from both scientists
Received 18 March 2015 and construction industry due to the multiple sustainability benefits they offer, compared to steel fibres
Received in revised form 11 May 2015 and steel reinforcing mesh. This paper critically reviews the current state of knowledge and technology of
Accepted 14 May 2015
using macro plastic fibres to reinforce concrete. Detailed review on the various preparation techniques
and the resulting properties of macro plastic fibres are presented and the effects of macro plastic fibres
on the fresh and hardened concrete properties are discussed in this paper. The effect of macro plastic
Keywords:
fibres on workability, plastic shrinkage, compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, flexural strength,
Macro plastic fibre
Concrete
post-crack performance and dry shrinkage is discussed in this paper. Pull-out behaviour and degradation
Fibre production behaviour of the fibre in the concrete are also reviewed. Finally, cost and environmental analysis and
Reinforcement some applications of the plastic fibre reinforced concrete are discussed.
Application Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
2. Preparation and properties of plastic fibres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
3. Macro plastic fibre reinforced concrete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
3.1. Fresh concrete properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
3.1.1. Slump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
3.1.2. Plastic shrinkage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
3.2. Hardened concrete properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
3.2.1. Compressive strength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
3.2.2. Splitting tensile strength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
3.2.3. Flexural strength. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
3.2.4. Post-crack performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
3.2.5. Drying shrinkage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: rabin.tuladhar@jcu.edu.au (R. Tuladhar).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2015.05.105
0950-0618/Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
S. Yin et al. / Construction and Building Materials 93 (2015) 180–188 181
2. Preparation and properties of plastic fibres PET [51] and PP [35] fibre of tensile strength above 450 MPa can
be obtained.
The macro plastic fibres can be virgin and recycled polypropy- Another popular processing technique is extruding PET, PP or
lene (PP), high-density polyethylene (HDPE) or polyethylene HDPE granules through a rectangular die to form film sheets
terephthalate (PET) fibres. PP fibres have been widely used in the (0.2–0.5 mm thick). The resulting film sheets are then slit longitu-
concrete industry, due to its ease of production, high alkaline resis- dinally into equal width tapes (1.0–1.3 mm wide) by a slitting
tance [44], and high tensile strength and Young’s modulus [26]. machine. The tapes are then mechanically deformed using a pat-
However, their low density (around 0.9 g/cm3) may make the terned pin wheel, such as crimped and embossed. In some cases,
fibres ‘float up’ to the surface of concrete matrix [45]. Low hydro- the fibrillated tapes are also twisted before cutting to desired
philic nature of PP fibres, which can be reflected by low wetting lengths (40–50 mm) [52]. Kim et al. [53] used this technique to
tension of about 35 mN/m, also significantly deteriorates workabil- successfully prepare recycled PET fibre with 420 MPa tensile
ity of fresh concrete and bonding between the fibres and the con- strength and 10 GPa Young’s modulus.
crete [46]. HDPE fibres have slightly higher density (around In order to reduce manufacturing costs, researchers have
0.95 g/cm3) and are more hydrophilic than PP fibres. However, explored the potential of producing recycled plastic fibres just by
HDPE fibres have low tensile strength (ranging from 26 to mechanically cutting PET bottles, as reported by Fraternali et al.
45 MPa), which significantly limits their applications [45]. PET [54], de Oliveira and Castro-Gomes [55] and Foti [56]. Foti [56] pro-
fibres have much higher density at 1.38 g/cm3 and better wetting duced lamellar fibre and ‘O’-shaped annular fibre by this method.
tension of 40 mN/m than PP fibres, so they are easier to be mixed The special shape of the ‘O’-fibre can assist to bind the concrete
with concrete than the PP or HDPE fibres. They also have high ten- on each side of a cracked section, thus improving ductility of the
sile strength and Young’s modulus [46], which can effectively concrete. This technique though economical in smaller scale, can-
improve post-crack performance of concrete. However, PET gran- not be used for a large-scale production. Firstly, the bottles should
ules must be dried for at least 6 h before being processed into be washed before or after cutting which makes this process
fibres. The PET granules are also easily crystallised and stick on labour-intensive. Secondly, waste bottles have different history
the inner wall of extruder. Hence, it is more difficult and costly and degradation, which results in variable and poorer mechanical
to process PET than either of PP or HDPE. Moreover, alkaline resis- properties of the fibres. Moreover, the fibres produced through this
tance of the PET fibres is questionable [47,48]. Therefore, the PP technique only has a tensile strength of around 160 MPa and low
fibres have become the most common commercial concrete fibre, Young’s modulus of about 3 GPa [57], which are much lower than
and PET fibres have attracted extensive research, but HDPE fibres those of the fibres produced by the other two techniques.
are still rare in practice with very little research being reported
in the literature. From the environmental and cost-saving perspec- 3. Macro plastic fibre reinforced concrete
tive, researchers are now also investigating the use of recycled
plastic fibres in concrete [49]. However, recycled plastics have 3.1. Fresh concrete properties
uncertain processing and service history, impurities and varying
degrees of degradation, leading to processing difficulties and 3.1.1. Slump
unstable mechanical properties [50]. Workability of fresh concrete can be determined through a
The physical and chemical characteristics of the macro plastic slump test [58]. Table 1 shows slump test results of macro plastic
fibres vary widely depending upon the manufacturing techniques. fibre reinforced concrete. The results indicate addition of macro
A popular technique involves melt spinning plastic granules into plastic fibres decreases slump, thus decreasing workability of fresh
filaments and then hot drawing the monofilaments into fibres concrete. This is due to the fact that the addition of fibres can form a
[51]. In the study conducted by Ochi et al. [46], PET granules were network structure in the concrete matrix, thus restraining mixture
melted and extruded into monofilaments with a fineness of 60,000 from segregation and flow. Moreover, due to high content and large
dtex (dtex: grams per 10,000 m length). Then the monofilaments surface area of the fibres, the fibres can easily absorb cement paste
were hot drawn into 5000 dtex through a film orientation unit to wrap around, hence increasing viscosity of the concrete mixture
shown in Fig. 2 [46]. The resulting monofilaments were then [59]. Mazaheripour et al. [60] made following two suggestions to
indented and cut into fibres of 30–40 mm long. This melt spinning improve the workability of fibre reinforced concrete: (a) to limit
and hot drawing process highly oriented the molecular chains of the volumetric content of macro plastic fibres to a range of 0.1%
the PET, inducing high crystallinity and thus significantly improv- to 1% and (b) to add more water. However, addition of water will
ing tensile strength and Young’s modulus. Through this method, negatively affect concrete strength; hence plasticiser or water
S. Yin et al. / Construction and Building Materials 93 (2015) 180–188 183
Table 1
Properties of macro plastic fibre reinforced concrete.
Macro plastic fibre Fibre dimension Fibre volumetric Slump Compressive Splitting tensile
content (%) (mm) strength (MPa) strength (MPa)
PP fibre, wavelength shape [62] 0.9 mm in diameter, 50 mm 0 102 35.0 2.2
in length 1 38 35.4 3.2
1.5 6.5 30.7 3.2
PP fibre, 620 MPa tensile strength and 9.5 GPa 40 mm 1.4 mm 0.11 mm 0 N/A 38.9 3.6
Young’s modulus [61] 0.33 N/A 40.5 3.9
0.42 N/A 41.4 4.1
0.51 N/A 41.6 4.1
Fig. 5. Load–CTOD curves of recycled PET and PP fibres reinforced concrete [51]. Fig. 6. Comparison of RDPT results for concrete reinforced with steel mesh, steel
fibre and PP fibre [78].
large flat areas like footpaths and slabs in hot, windy and dry envi- Brown et al. [89] studied long-term properties of virgin PP fibres
ronment [82]. Steel reinforcing mesh is typically being used to pre- in the concrete under a reactive environment. When PP fibres were
vent the drying shrinkage cracks, but is now being gradually exposed to an ionic environment of sodium and chloride ions cre-
replaced by macro plastic fibres because of ease of construction, ated by salt water at different temperatures of 71 °C and 7 °C for
saving of labour and cost [78], and environmental benefits [83]. six months, the tensile properties of the PP fibres remained
Soroushian et al. [59] tested the restrained drying shrinkage of unchanged. Roque et al.[90] immersed PP fibre reinforced concrete
plastic fibre reinforced concrete, according to ASTM C157 [84]. in simulated saltwater conditions for 33 months, and found that
They found that the average maximum crack width of plain con- rate of stiffness reduction was only 2.34%, which was much lower
crete was 0.3 mm at the 90th day, while 0.19% of PP fibre effec- than those of steel fibre (14.0%) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)
tively restrained the crack width to 0.15 mm, and delayed the (59.9%) reinforced concrete. It was concluded that PP has the best
initiation of cracking. As reported by Najm and Balaguru [65] and durability for non-structural applications in the saltwater environ-
Hsie et al. [67], the plain concrete can withstand only small drying ment. Elasto Plastic Concrete (EPC) company [48] did advanced
shrinkage strain, which is usually neglected. However, the addition alkalinity testing for their product olefin fibre. The fibres were sub-
of plastic fibres significantly increases the strain capacity of con- jected to an alkaline solution, which simulates a concrete environ-
crete, thus contributing to a reduction in crack widths and a ment. They reported that their olefin fibre could last up to
delayed crack occurrence time. 100 years in an alkaline environment without any decrease of
strength.
The olefin fibres, including PP and HDPE, show high resistance
3.2.6. Pull-out behaviour of plastic fibres
to alkaline environment, while there is no agreement about the
Fibre debonding and pull-out (sliding) at the interface have a
durability of PET fibres in Portland cement matrix. The PET fibres
substantial impact on total energy absorption during the crack
belong to the polyester group, and polyester fibres degrade when
propagation. Therefore, the bond of fibre and matrix significantly
embedded in Portland cement matrix [41,91]. The degradation
affects capacity of the fibres to stabilise the crack propagation in
tests from EPC company showed that the PET fibre only could per-
concrete matrix [85]. Low mechanical bonding strength may not
form well for 10 years in the concrete, after that the strength of
provide sufficient bridging force to control crack development.
fibre decreased significantly [48]. However, Ochi et al. [46] and
Moreover, the weak bonding strength also can cause internal
the ACI 544 [1] reported good alkaline resistance of PET fibres in
micro-cracks in the interfacial areas [46].
mortar and concrete. Moreover, Won et al. [91] reported recycled
Oh et al. [86] explored optimum shape among the various plas-
PET fibres and recycled PET fibre reinforced concrete are highly
tic fibres as shown in Fig. 7. In their pull-out tests, the
resistant to salt, CaCl2, and sodium sulphate, and have no signifi-
crimped-shape plastic fibres exhibited the highest energy absorp-
cant difference in chloride permeability and repeated
tion capacity. Kim et al. [52] reported that the embossed fibre
freeze-thaw tests compared to plain concrete.
had high bonding strength at 5 MPa due to its high surface energy
Ochi et al. [46] immersed recycled PET fibre into an alkaline
and friction resistance. The crimped fibre also had high bond
solution, which was prepared by dissolving 10 g of sodium hydrox-
strength at 3.9 MPa, but its crimped part was stretched fully during
ide in 1 dm3 of distilled water, for 120 h at 60 °C. The results
the pull-out tests, thus leading to a rapid increase in displacement
showed that the tensile strength of PET fibre after immersion
and low initial stiffness. The straight fibre had lowest bond
was 99% of that before immersion, showing minimal deterioration.
strength at 1.7 MPa.
Fraternali et al. [54] did the same test on the recycled PET fibre
obtained by mechanically cutting post-consumer bottles, and
3.2.7. Degradation of plastic fibres in concrete found that the tensile strength of the PET after alkali attack was
PP has a high resistance to chemical attack due to its non-polar 87% of that before attack. Therefore, the recycled PET fibre was
nature [87]. For example, PP is resistant to alcohol, organic acids, considered to have sufficient alkali resistance in both their studies.
esters and ketones, inorganic acids and alkalis. However, it swells Silva et al. [47] immersed recycled PET fibres in a Lawrence
when exposed to aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons and by solution (0.48 g/l Ca(OH)2 + 3.45 g/l KOH + 0.88 g/l NaOH,
halogenated hydrocarbons [88]. pH = 12.9), which simulates a fully hydrated cement paste.
186 S. Yin et al. / Construction and Building Materials 93 (2015) 180–188
Table 2
Example applications of the PET fibres reinforced concrete in Japan [46].
Through micrographs they found that surface of the recycled PET and dangerous locations. Moreover, steel is highly corrosive in
fibres became rough after being immersed for 150 days at 50 °C. nature, which commonly deteriorates concrete. Therefore, macro
Toughness of the PET fibre reinforced concrete decreased with plastic fibres are increasingly used in concrete and shotcrete
the age due to the degradation of PET fibres inside the concrete. industries for construction of footpaths, non-structural precast
Fraternali et al. [92] submerged recycled PET fibre reinforced con- elements (pipes, culverts, cable pits and other small components),
crete in the Italian Salerno harbour seawater for a period of tunnels and underground structures, to partially or totally
12 months. Through the CTOD tests, the energy absorption in the substitute steel reinforcement.
heavily cracked regime (CTOD 0.6–3 mm) was found significantly At mines, some locations, such as bedrock, are very difficult to
decreased by 52.1%. support and are susceptible to collapse. In these cases, there is a
long-standing demand to increase the support by increasing the
4. Cost and environmental benefits of using macro plastic fibres fibre content. In the case of steel fibre reinforced concrete, diffi-
culty of mixing and formation of fibre balls have prevented the
In recent years, macro plastic fibres have become an attractive use of higher fibre contents [98]. However, plastic fibre reinforced
alternative to traditional steel reinforcement in construction indus- concrete can be produced with fibre dosage more than 1% within
try due to multiple reasons. Firstly, plastic fibres have significantly the normal mixing time without any fibre ball formation and pipe
low cost compared to steel. For instance, based on our previous clogging issues [46].
study [93], 43 m2 of concrete footpath (100 mm thick) typically Steel reinforcing mesh is conventionally used in the footpath
requires three sheets of SL82 steel mesh (156 kg of total weight). applications to prevent drying shrinkage cracks [99]. However,
Whereas, 17 kg of plastic fibre (4 kg/m3) can achieve the same some roads, such as passages in tunnels under construction, pas-
degree of reinforcement in concrete footpath of same area. As of cur- sages through underground structures, urban alleyways, and bush
rent price in Australia, the cost of 17 kg PP fibre is AU$ 244 [94], roads, are commonly narrow, winding, and steep. It is desirable to
while three sheets of SL82 steel mesh cost AU$ 433 [95]. This shows apply fibre reinforced concrete to the pavement of such narrow
the clear saving of price when using macro plastic fibres. sections of road. Unfortunately, traditional steel fibre can puncture
Furthermore, preparation required when using steel mesh such as tires, corrode and also can reduce workability of concrete.
laying, cutting and tying requires considerable labour time and cost Therefore, plastic fibres are now gradually replacing steel reinforc-
compared to the use of plastic fibres, which can be directly added to ing mesh for such usage, because of ease of construction, and for
the agitator of an agitator truck and combined with the ready-mixed saving labour and cost [78]. Table 2 lists some applications of
concrete. Ochi et al. [46] reported that the process of using tradi- PET fibre in mines and pavements in Japan [46].
tional steel reinforcement in a footpath of size 48 m2 and thickness Macro plastic fibres are also an appealing alternative to steel for
of 150 mm includes steel mesh preparation, and concrete placing reinforcing precast concrete elements, such as pipes [100], sleepers
and finishing, which requires 9.7 worker-hours (i.e. [101] and pits [102]. Fuente et al. [103] produced fibre reinforced
0.2 man-h/m2). However, the PP fibres can be directly mixed with concrete pipes with internal diameter of 1000 mm, thickness of
concrete, eliminating the need of preparation of steel, which signif- 80 mm and length of 1500 mm. PP fibre with continuously
icantly reduces worker-hours to 5.2 h, (i.e. 0.11 man-h/m2). embossed indents (54 mm in length, 0.9 mm in diameter, 10 GPa
Thirdly, steel is highly corrosive in nature; corrosion of steel Young’s modulus and 640 MPa tensile strength) was used at
reinforcement in concrete structures can lead to their deterioration 5.5 kg/m3 dosage to reinforce the pipes. Through a crush test, they
and failure. However, plastic fibres, especially PP fibres, as we dis- found that the peak strength of 50 kPa was achieved at the deflec-
cussed before, are highly resistant to corrosion, thus having a tion of 1 mm, with the strength dropping to 30 kPa at the deflec-
long-term durability. Moreover, handling plastic fibres are much tion of 2 mm, which kept constant until 10 mm. They reported
safer and lighter than using steel. that the traditional pipe production systems can be adapted while
Last but not least, the production of plastic fibres can signifi- using PP fibre reinforced concrete, and the pipes can meet required
cantly reduce carbon footprint compared to that of producing steel. strength classes without resorting to conventional rebar
For instance, producing 17 kg of PP fibre can emit 68 kg carbon reinforcement.
dioxide equivalents [96], while the production of 156 kg of steel
has a 536 kg of carbon emission [97]. 6. Conclusion
5. Applications of plastic fibre reinforced concrete Use of macro plastic fibres to reinforce concrete instead of steel
mesh and steel fibres has become appealing to scientists and con-
Reinforcing steel is expensive and its placement in concrete is crete industries due to its sustainability benefits. This paper has
labour and time intensive, often requiring placement in difficult presented the current state of knowledge and technology of
S. Yin et al. / Construction and Building Materials 93 (2015) 180–188 187
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