Plastic Mixed Reinforced Concrete -

Behaviour
Behaviour of Plastic Mixed Reinforced Concrete Columns Under Axial Compression

One of the main environmental problem today is the disposal of the waste plastics. The use of
plastics in various places as packing materials and the products such as bottles, polythene
sheets, containers, packing strips etc., are increasing day by day. This results in production of
plastic wastes from all sorts of livings from industrial manufacturers to domestic users. To
circumvent this pollution crisis, many products are being produced from reusable waste plastics.
On the other side, the Indian construction industry is facing problems due to insufficient and
unavailability of construction materials. So, we need to search for new construction materials as
well as a method to dispose the plastic waste. To find a solution to the above problems, one of
them can be used to solve the other. In this experimental study, an attempt has been made to
use the waste plastics in concrete and studies have been conducted to focus particularly on the
behavior of compression members with various proportions of plastic wastes. The plastics used
in this investigation were polythene sheets, raw plastics (raw material used for straw
manufacturing), road wastes (waste plastics collected from road sides are melted and shredded)
and plastic straw. The above plastic wastes were mixed with cement concrete in various
proportions (0.1% to 2%) and test specimens were cast (cubes and columns) to study the
behavior of plastic mixed concrete in axial compression.

S. Gowri, Senior Lecturer, and N. Rajkumar, Lecturer, Dept of Civil Engg, Erode Sengunthar
Engineering College, Thudupathi, Erode
Introduction
The Indian concrete industry is today consuming about 400 million tonnes of concrete every
year and it is expected, that this may reach a billion tonnes in less than a decade. All the
materials required to produce such huge quantities of concrete, come from the earths crust,
thus depleting its resources every year creating ecological strains. On the other hand, human
activities on earth produce solid wastes in considerable quantities i.e., over 2500 million tonnes
per year, including industrial wastes, agricultural wastes and other wastes from rural and urban
societies. Disposal of such solid wastes involves economic issues as well as ecological and
environmental considerations. The major ecological strain in disposal of solid waste may be due
to the presence of waste plastics in it

Figure 1: Photograph showing various Types of Plastic Materials Used in the Investigation
The plastic is one of the recent engineering materials which have appeared in the market all
over the world. Some varieties of naturally occurring thermoplastics were known to Egyptians
and Romans who extracted and used these plastics for various purposes. Plastics were used in
bath and sink units, corrugated and plain sheets, floor tiles, joint less flooring, paints and
varnishes and wall tiles. Other than these, domestically plastics were used in various forms as
carry bags, bottles, cans and also in various medical utilities. There has been a steep rise in the
production of plastics from a mere 30 million kN in 1955, it has touched 1000 million kN at
present. It is estimated that on an average 25% of the total plastic production in the world is
used by the building industry. The per capita consumption of plastics in the developed
countries ranges from 500 to 1000N while in our country, it is only about 2N. There is however
now increase in awareness regarding the utilization of plastic as a useful building material in
our country. These types of usages normally generates more amount of wastes which are to be
disposed off properly.

Figure 2: Photograph showing the Arrangement of Polythene Sheet in Cube Mould
Environmentally sensitive aware people condemn the use of plastics for amount of pollution
caused by them in disposal. However this is not a serious problem in comparison to the waste
and pollution generated by a host of other industries. The non-biodegradable plastic products
used for soft drink bottles, milk and juice bottles, bread bags, syrup bottles, coffee cups, plastics
utensils etc., can be conveniently recycled into carpets, detergent bottle, drainage pipes,
fencing, handrails, grocery bags, car battery cases, pencil holders, benches, picnic tables, road
side posts etc,. The developing construction field consumes a huge amount of concrete and it
leads to the depletion of natural products and causes environmental pollution.

Plastics are normally stable and not biodegradable. So, their disposal poses problems. Research
works are going on in making use of plastics wastes effectively as additives in bitumen mixes for
the road pavements. Reengineered plastics are used for solving the solid waste management
problems to great extent. This study attempts to give a contribution to the effective use of
waste plastics in concrete in order to prevent the ecological and environmental strains caused
by them, also to limit the high amount of environmental degradation.

This study attempts to give a contribution to the effective use of domestic wastes (plastics) in
concrete in order to prevent the environmental strains caused by them, also to limit the
consumption of high amounts of natural resources.

Four types of plastic materials were selected to mix along with the concrete: (1) Polythene
Sheet (2) Raw Plastics (3) Road Wastes (4) Plastic Straw to study their behavior in conjunction
with concrete. The properties of the materials used in the present investigations were
completely studied and the optimum mix of the above plastic materials was found based on
their compressive, split tensile, flexural strengths. After finding the optimum mix percentages in
compression, RC columns were cast and tested for its compressive strength. From the
investigation, the road waste mixed concrete was found to take more loads in compression.
Raw plastic mixed concrete as well as plastic straw mixed concrete were also found to give
better strength than the reference RC column.
Literature Review
FORTA ECONO-NET manufactured by FORTA Corporation, USA is a homopolymer,
polypropylene fibrous reinforcements in a collated fibrillated (network) form. This is used to
reduce plastics and hardened concrete shrinkage, improves impact strength, increase fatigue
resistance and concrete toughness. This product is non-corrosive, non-magnetic, chemically
inert and 100% alkali proof.

Figure 3: Photograph showing the Arrangements of Plastic Straw in Prism Mould
Lakshmipathy et.al. (2003), have done experimental investigations to study the suitability of the
use of Re-engineered plastics as fibers for road pavements. The properties studied include
compressive strength, tensile strength, flexural strength under reversed cyclic loading, impact
resistance, plastic shrinkage and abrasion resistance etc., Efforts have been made to compare it
steel fibers. The results have shown that the improvement of concrete properties at lower cost
is obtained with Re-engineered plastic shred reinforced concrete.

Prabir Das (2004) has suggested that plastics can be used in construction industry at various
places. Proper selection of material / grade and suitable design considerations can help to
replace many more applications. Lighter weight, design flexibility, part integration, low system
cost, very high productivity and improved product appearance are the main features for use of
engineering plastics. The engineering thermoplastics and introduction of application specific
grades has thrown challenges to conventional materials in the industries. This paper provides
all the supports in selecting suitable engineering plastics, process and design for conversion of
conventional material to engineering plastics for performance and system cost benefits.

Chandrakaran (2004) has explained a laboratory experimental study carried out to utilize waste
plastics (in the form of strips) obtained from milk pouches in the pavement construction.
Results of the study indicate that by adding plastic strips in the soil, shear strength, tensile
strength and CBR values of the soil increases. In this study, plastic or polythene sheets having
thickness of 0.5mm and which are made up of high density are used. Three types of plastic
strips were used in this study to act as a reinforcing material. The first one was cut into 20mm x
40mm size, second one was 25mm x 50mm size and the third one was of 30mm x 60mm size.
These plastic strips have innumerable advantageous properties like high tensile strength, low
permeability etc., These plastic strips act as a good barrier to gases and liquids and are
unaffected by cycles of wetting and drying. For all the strips used in this experimental work, an
aspect ratio of 2 is maintained.

Figure 4: Photograph showing the Mixing of Raw Plastic with Concrete
Agarwal (2004) has conducted pilot level studies using industrial PVC scrap to develop PVC
board. Efforts have been made in developing innovative number of such alternative building
materials. These would be helpful in saving our precious forest and environment efficiently and
economically on commercial exploitation. Developed materials are mostly wood alternatives
used in the construction of door shutters, frames, false ceiling, thermal insulation and alike
applications. Developed sustainable alternative building materials are good economic
replacement of wood and other reconstituted wood products commercially available and
would be helpful in cost effective constructions.

Vasudevan (2004), in his report has given most useful ways of disposing waste plastics and
laying roads have come to light in a research carried out by the Chemistry Department of
Thiyagarajar College of Engineering. They have reported that the waste plastics may be used in
block making modified light roofing, mastic flooring and polymer reinforced concrete. The novel
composition of waste polymer-aggregate blend has been patented. They have suggested that
utilization of waste plastics to enhance the binding property is better option than disposing or
enforcing a blanket ban on the use of plastics. It has been reported that the per capita use of
plastics in India is 3.5 kg, with virgin plastics accounting for 3.1 million tonnes and recycled
plastics, one million. The use in Tamilnadu, with over 7000 units manufacturing material is put
at 2.4 lakh tonnes per year. The Garbage Culture has made disposal of waste plastic a major
problem for civic bodies.

Figure 5: Photograph showing the Mixing of Road Waste with Concrete
Disposal of used plastics by land filling may be temporary solution and also affects ground
water recharging and soil microbe activities. Incineration of plastic material will cause air
pollution, global warming and monsoon failure. Investigations done so far have shown that
waste plastics can be utilized for making polymer aggregate blocks with ceramics and granite,
which can be used in laying footpaths. The blocks can take 350 tonnes of load and prevents
water penetration. They can also be used in lining of canals. A bitumen blend can be used as a
coat over reinforced cardboard for roofing. Besides enhancing the strength and life of roofing,
used by the poor, the blend will provide better moisture resistant. A blend of waste plastics
with mastic components and flooring materials provides floors of more strength, especially in
industrial units. Waste polymers also infuse greater strength when mixed with cement as a
reinforced concrete. The author suggested the residents and the users to segregate the plastics
in their area and to pool the segregated plastics for laying road with assistance of the civic
body. Non-Governmental organizations can be involved in the collection of plastic waste and its
segregation, taking in to account the money it can fetch.
Materials and Methods
In the experimentation, 43 Grade cement having specific gravity of 3.15 was used along with
the locally available sand and aggregates. The fineness percentage of the cement used was 5%.
The sand having specific gravity of 2.6 with fineness modulus of 3.5 falling under zone III was
used. The coarse aggregate having a specific gravity of 2.61 with 20mm down size and 15mm
down size were used in the experimentation.
Plastics Used in the Investigation
The four types of plastics used in this experimental investigation were thermoplastic products.
They are,

Figure 6: Photograph showing the Test Set-up for RC Column
a. Polythene Sheet
b. Road waste
c. Raw Plastics
d. Plastic Straw
a. Polythene Sheet: The polythene sheets are organic polymers containing carbon in
addition to hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen. The thickness of the polythene sheet used in
the present investigation was 250 microns.
b. Road Waste: These are nothing but the waste plastics found on the road sides, which
were collected and heated. After heating the products were cooled and the resultant
product was shredded. These shredded plastic products were selected to mix along with
concrete. This type of plastics was mentioned as road waste.
c. Raw Plastics: The raw materials used for manufacturing the plastic straw were called as
raw plastics. These were round shaped plastic granules which were white in color.
d. Plastic Straw: These are tubular plastic products used in day today life. These were
mixed along with concrete after cutting them along its cross section. Then the cast
specimens were de-moulded next day and subjected to curing.
Test Methodology

Figure 7: Photograph showing the Tested RC Column Specimens
The size of the polythene sheets were cut in to 1cm by 10cm and arranged in layers in between
the concrete. The plastic straw was cut across its cross section for a length of 10cm and
arranged as layers in between the concrete according to the calculated percentages. The
percentage of addition of plastics was varied from 0.1% to 1.5% by weight and the specimens
were cast. The cast specimens were cured for 7 days. The mix proportion used in the present
investigation was 1:1.5:3 with water cement ratio of 0.5. The ingredients of the concrete viz.
cement, sand and aggregate were weighed and mixed dry. To this dry mix the calculated
quantity of road wastes (and raw plastics) were added and the mixing was continued till a
homogeneous mix was obtained. Then the calculated quantity of water was added and again
mixed thoroughly. Whereas, for the polythene sheet (and plastic straw), the concrete was
mixed well and then filled in layers by introducing the calculated quantity of polythene sheet
(or plastic straw). The specimens cast were cubes, cylinders and prisms. The cast specimens
after curing were subjected to compression testing, split tensile testing and flexural strength
testing. Test results as obtained are discussed (with the help of graphs) under Results and
Discussions.
Results and Discussions
Casting of Test Specimen

Dimensions of the Test Specimens

The column is of size 100 mm diameter and 750mm height. The longitudinal bars of the column
consist of 6 nos. of 6mm diameter. The lateral ties of 5mm diameter plain bars placed at 85mm
c/c have been used.

Materials Used
Table 1: Percentage of Addition of Plastics (for RC Columns)
S.No Type of plastic
Percentage of addition
(by weight)
Weight of plastic added (gm)
1. Polythene Sheet 0.20 29.75
2. Road waste 1.25 185.94
3. Raw Plastics 0.25 37.18
4. Plastic Straw 0.10 14.88
OPC 43 grade, river sand and crushed granite aggregates, potable water were used for making
the concrete. Various types of plastic waste with their optimum percentage as discussed in
previous chapter were mixed with conventional concrete to determine the effect of plastic on
the column behavior. The weight of plastics added is given in Table 1.

Casting

The columns were cast in the vertical position. The reinforcement cage is inserted in to the PVC
mould. The cut polythene sheets were arranged in layer by layer in between concrete layers.
The other plastic materials like road wastes and raw plastics were weighed to their optimum
percentage and mixed with the concrete and then poured in to the mould. The plastic straw
was cut along its cross section and arranged in layers in between concrete. The table vibrator is
used to achieve better compaction. The next day the specimens were de-moulded and
subjected to curing for specified number of days.

After the specified curing period (7 days), the specimens were taken out for testing.

Test Set-up

The column specimens cast by using various plastic mixed concrete were tested for its
compressive strength. Before testing the columns, the demec points were selected (at 11.25cm,
26.25cm with a gauge length of 15cm) from each end of the column. Steel pellets were
attached to the selected demec points on the column to measure the strains. Six dial gauges
were placed along the height of the column, three on one side of the column and the rest on
the opposite side. Dial gauges were placed at 18.75 cm intervals throughout the length of the
column.

Demec points were fixed along the circumference of the column at selected locations. The
complete test set-up for testing the RC column is shown in Figure.

Testing Procedure

The specimens were placed on the Universal Testing machine. The dial gauges were placed on
the specified locations. Strain readings were taken with the help of demec gauge. Load was
applied on the specimen gradually. Strain reading and deflections were noted at predetermined
load levels. The load was applied continuously till the failure of the specimen takes place. The
type of failure was noted down carefully.

Test Results

The calculated strain values for the RC columns are given in the Table 2.
Table 2 Compressive Strength of Various RC Columns
S.No Reference RC Columns
Polythene Sheet Mixed RC
Columns
Raw Plastic Mixed RC
Columns
Road Waste Mixed RC
Columns
Plastic Straw Mixed RC
Columns

Load (kN) Strain x10
-3
Load (kN) Strain x10
-3
Load (kN) Strain x10
-3
Load (kN) Strain x10
-3
Load (kN) Strain x10
-3

1. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2. 10 -- 10 -- 10 -- 10 -- 10 --
3. 20 0.07 20 0.16 20 1.23 20 0.08 20 0.027
4. 30 -- 30 -- 30 -- 30 -- 30 --
5. 40 0.12 40 0.19 40 3.80 40 0.09 40 0.16
6. 50 -- 50 -- 50 -- 50 -- 50 --
7. 60 0.12 60 0.37 60 5.40 60 0.11 60 1.25
8. 70 -- 70 -- 70 -- 70 -- 70 --
9. 80 0.19 80 1.67 80 5.09 80 0.20 80 1.33
10. 90 -- 90 -- 90 -- 90 -- 90 --
11. 100* 0.20 100 2.59 100 5.12 100 0.23 91.55* 1.37
12.

105.5* 2.67 108.5* 5.14 110 --

13.

120 0.24

14.

122.5* 0.25

* Ultimate Load

Load Carrying capacity

From the studies it is evident that the polythene sheet mixed RC columns were found to
withstand an average load of 105.5 kN in compression. This was better than the reference RC
columns which took an average load of 100 kN.

The comparison of ultimate load carrying capacity of the RC columns with various plastics is
given in Table 3.
Table 3 Comparison of Ultimate and Initial Crack Loads
Type of Columns
Reference RC
Columns
Polythene Sheet Mixed RC
Columns
Road Waste Mixed RC
Columns
Raw Plastic Mixed RC
Columns
Plastic Straw Mixed RC
Columns
Ultimate Load (kN) 100 105.5 122.5 108.5 91.55
Initial Crack Load
(kN)
35 35 102.5 52 45

Strain Profile

The reference RC columns were found to have a maximum strain of 0.2x10
-3
at maximum load
of 100kN. The variation of strain is uniform with the increase in load. The polythene sheet
mixed RC columns were found to have a maximum strain of 2.67x10
-3
at maximum load of
105.5kN. The strain was found to increase with slight increase in load. The road waste mixed
concrete RC columns have a strain of 0.25x10
-3
at a maximum load of 122.5kN. The strain
profile was found to have a minimum variation in between the load range of 20 to 60kN. Raw
plastic mixed concrete RC columns have a maximum strain of 5.14x10
-3
at a load range of
108.5kN. From the observations made, it was found that raw plastics mixed columns have
maximum strain when compared with all the other RC columns. Plastic straw mixed RC columns
have a uniform strain variation pattern up to initial crack load and the strain increased more
with increase in minimum load.
Conclusion
The plastic mixed concrete can be used in the plain concrete structures but also it can be used
in reinforced concrete structures. In this experimental investigation, RC columns were cast by
mixing optimum percentage of plastics of various designations and the compressive strength
was tested.

With the judicious analysis done, the following conclusions were arrived
i. The optimum mix percentage of the
a. Polythene Sheet is found as 0.2%
b. Raw Plastic granule is found to be 0.25%
c. Road Waste is found to be 1.25%
d. Plastic Straw is found to be 0.1%
ii. Out of the above four materials Road waste gives better results in compression as well
as in flexure (for plain concrete specimens)
iii. When the Plastic Straw is mixed with concrete it can be used for concrete work of less
importance. For example foot path kerbs, pavement blocks etc.,
iv. The behavior of RC columns mixed with different plastic materials is more or less similar
v. The RC columns with Road Waste mixed concrete shows a marginal increase in the
ultimate load carrying capacity than that of the reference RC column
vi. The RC columns with Plastic Straw mixed concrete shows less lateral deflection as
compared with other type of plastic materials
From the theoretical investigation, it is found that the road waste mixed concrete and the
reference column gives marginally the same values of strain at the ultimate load. Whereas,
Polythene Sheet mixed concrete column, raw plastic mixed column and the plastic straw mixed
column show a wide variation in strain, when compared with the experimentally predicted
strain value. This is may be due to improper bond between the plastic materials and concrete