Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences 33 (2021) 337–345

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Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences

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Original article

Evalutions of strengths, impact and energy capacity of two-way concrete

slabs incorprating waste plastic
Sheelan Mahmoud Hama
University Of Anbar – Iraq, Academic Position: Assistant Professor Dr. at Civil Engineering Department/University Of Anbar/Iraq, Iraq

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This work is about investigated the effectiveness of inclusion of local waste, represented by plas-
Received 20 March 2020 tic water drink bottles caps (CPPA), in the concrete as a partial substitute for coarse aggregates.
Accepted 20 September 2020 Compressive, flexural and splitting strengths were evaluated for plain concrete. For reinforced
Available online 29 September 2020
concrete (R.C.), bond strength between reinforced bar and surrounding concrete has been evalu-
ated. In additional, impact resistance, energy absorption capacity, mid-span deflection and crack
Keywords: width for Two-way R.C. slab subjected to repeated impact load have been evaluated. Five differ-
Plastic cover plate
ent content of plastic aggregate were examined; 0%, 15%, 30%, 45%, 60% and 75% of CPPA. Tests
Bond strength
Energy absorption
Results showed that strengths (compressive, splitting, flexural and bond strengths) improved
Impact resistance for plastic content 15% and 30% especially at 15%. While these strengths began to decrease with
Strength increasing plastic’s content over 30%. For R.C. slabs, number of blows that caused failure
increased with increasing plastic content up to 45%, which mean increasing in impact resistance
and increasing in energy-absorbed capacity. Based on the experimental results, empirical equa-
tions were proposed of calculating splitting, flexural, bond strengths and energy-absorbed capac-
ity for concrete incorporating CPPA. According to results of this investigation, for structural
reinforced concrete, 15% and 30% of this type of plastic is recommended to be used as partial
replacement of gravel.
Ó 2021 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an
open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction ished easily and effectively without its ingredients be segregate.

Incorporating of waste material in concrete can be in different
forms like powder, fiber, aggregate. Using of different types of
waste in concrete has been increased especially in the last decade
because of the new resulting concrete has a lower cost and gain
some properties which made it suitable under different conditions
(Al Qadi and Al-Zaidyeen, 2014; Abed et al., 2020). One of types of
waste that has been increasing in used in concrete is waste plastic,
which can be added to concrete in many forms like fibers (Hama,
2017; Aziz et al., 2018, 2019) or as aggregate as illustrated in
Table 1.
Workability of concrete is important, it is giving an indication
about ability of concrete mix to be transported, placed, and fin-
Peer review under responsibility of King Saud University.
Production and hosting by Elsevier
E-mail address: drsheelan@yahoo.com
Hama and Hilal (2017), Hama and Hilal (2019), found that the
shape, size and content of plastic aggregate affected on fresh
properties. The angular and uniform shape decreased workability
of concrete, besides the larger size also decreased workability of
concrete. While rounded shape plastic improved workability of
concrete. Replacing sand by fine waste plastic aggregates led to
reduce the slump of the concrete as the fine waste plastic aggre-
gates content increases (Ismail and Al-Hashmi, 2008; Hama and
Hilal, 2017; Rahmani et al., 2013). But Choi et al. (2009) found
an increase in the slump of concrete containing PET fine aggre-
gate at replacement levels up to 75%. Saikia and de Brito (2014)
showed that rough and sharp Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
particles decrease the slump while smooth spherical shape of
PET particles increase the slump of concrete. Frigione (2010)
replaced 10% of sand by waste PET and observed that PET con-
crete mix showed same workability characteristics of reference
mix. Mechanical properties of concrete are highly affected by
the concrete composition, and it plays an important role in design
of R.C (reinforced concrete) structures. Most of researches whose
investigated about effect of replacing nature aggregate with plas-

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksues.2020.09.007
1018-3639/Ó 2021 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
S. Mahmoud Hama Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences 33 (2021) 337–345

Table 1
Summary of previous studies on replacing natural aggregate partially with waste plastic.

References Type of waste plastic Plastic waste replacement Properties

Islam et al. Polyethylene terephthalate 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% as coarse aggregate Workability, density, compression strength
(2016) (PET), a thermoplastic polymer
Hama and Hilal PET 0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, and 12.5% as fine and coarse Workability and compressive strength
(2017) aggregate
Hama and Hilal Different type of waste plastic Different level of replacement for each type of Fresh properties
(2019) waste plastic as fine and coarse aggregate
Rahmani et al PET 5%, 10%, 15% as fine aggregate Mechanical properties (Compressive and flexural strengths,
(2013) modulus of elasticity) ultrasonic pulse velocity
Ismail and Al- PET 0%, 10%, 15%, and 20% as fine aggregate Slump, fresh density, dry density, compressive strength,
Hashmi flexural strength, and toughness indices
(2008)
Choi et al. PET 25%, 50% and 75% as fine aggregate Fresh and mechanical properties
(2009)
Saikia and de PET 5%, 10% and 15% as fine aggregate Slump, compressive strength, tensile splitting strength,
Brito (2014) modulus of elasticity and flexural strength
Azhdarpour PET 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, and 30% as fine aggregate Density, ultra sound velocity, compressive, tensile, and
et al (2016) flexural strengths
Ferreira et al PET 7.5%, 15% as fine aggregate Compressive strength, splitting strength, modulus of
(2012) elasticity and abrasion resistance
Hannawi et al. PET and PC 3%, 10%, 20%, 50% as fine aggregate Compressive strength, flexural strength, elastic modulus,
(2010) water absorption
Albano et al. PET 10%, 20% as fine aggregate Compressive strength, flexural strength, water absorption,
(2009) UPV
Frigione (2010) PET 5% as fine aggregate Workability, compressive strength and splitting tensile
strength
Senhadji et al. polyvinylchloride (PVC) 30, 50, and 70% as fine and coarse aggregate Workability, density, compressive strength, ultrasonic wave
(2015) velocity, and resistance to chloride ion penetration
Thorneycroft PET 10% as fine aggregate Density, Compressive strength and tensile strength
et al. (2018)
Saxena et al. PET 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% as fine and coarse Compressive strength, Impact resistance, and Resistance to
(2018) aggregate elevated temperature

tic aggregate on mechanical properties of concrete (compressive,
splitting and flexural strengths), refereed to gradual decrease in
concrete strengths with increasing of plastic aggregate content
as partial replacement of nature aggregate. This is because plastic
aggregate has a lower stiffness compared to nature one (Saikia
and de Brito, 2014; Islam et al., 2016; Hama and Hilal, 2017;
Hannawi et al., 2010; Albano et al., 2009; Frigione, 2010). Never-
theless, a few other researches refereed tan improvement in con-
crete strengths with incorporating waste plastic aggregate at a
low and moderate replacement levels. For example, Azhdarpour
et al. (2016) found that at low replacement level the compressive
strength increase. They observed that replacement of sand with
10% PET as fine aggregate results in increase in compressive
strength. A revealed porous structure was observed for concrete
that incorporating a PET particles by UPV test made by
Rahmani et al. (2013). Ferreira et al. (2012) state that sensitivity
of concrete incorporating plastic aggregate to curing conditions
changed with the replacement ratio and response of concrete dif-
fers among curing regimes. They found that drier regimes con-
ferred a higher compressive strength at the early age, but the
humid ones conferred a higher compressive at the medium/long
term. Senhadji et al. (2015) replaced natural aggregate with 50
and 70% waste polyvinylchloride (PVC) plastic and found that
results concrete can be used as structural concrete according to
density and strengths proprieties. Finally, to more efficient role
of waste plastic as aggregate in concrete, the plastic particles
should have irregular shape, irregular in shape, well graded and
close to sand particles size (Thorneycroft et al., 2018). There is
limited number of research on the effect of plastic waste on other
properties of concrete; for example, Saxena et al. (2018) investi-
gated about impact resistance of waste PET plastic aggregate,
which was used as partial replacement of fine and coarse
aggregate using 100
100
500 prisms. They found an improve-
ment in impact resistance of concrete by incorporating plastic
aggregate in concrete. Table 1 presents a summary of all litera-
tures reviewed in this study.
By reviewing existing literatures, one can see that there are a
very large number of researches, which focused on examining
fresh and mechanical properties of concrete incorporated waste
plastic as aggregate, especially as fine aggregate. Most of this
works have focused on the impact of PET type waste on these prop-
erties, knowing that there are many types and source of plastic
waste that can be combined with concrete and a study of the pos-
sibility of benefiting from them as an alternative to aggregate, for
example plastic caps for drinking water bottles. In addition, it is
important to know the mechanical properties of concrete, but it
is not a substitute for studying the effect of replacing natural
aggregates with plastic aggregates on the behavior of reinforced
concrete members. The aim of this work is to produce ecofriendly
concrete using plastic caps for drinking water bottles as a partial
substitute for gravel. Moreover, investigating the mechanical prop-
erties of plain concrete was made, in additional to structural
behavior of reinforced concrete slabs subjecting to repeated load.
Taking into account this aim in mind, the objectives of this study
are as following:
Experimentally investigate the mechanical properties (com-
pressive strength, splitting tensile strength and flexural tensile
strength) of plastic waste concrete
Experimentally investigate the effect of incorporating plastic
aggregate on bond characteristics between concrete and steel
reinforcement in term of ultimate bond strength
Experimentally investigate the response of reinforced concrete
two-way slabs under repeated load in terms of number of blows
recorded at first crack and failure, deflection, crack width and
energy absorption capacity

338
S. Mahmoud Hama
2. Experimental work
2.1. Materials and mix proportions
Type I ordinary cement that satisfied Iraqi specification No. 5,
fine sand with specific gravity 2.62 and natural gravel with maxi-
mum size 14 and specific gravity 2.75 were utilized. Both type of
aggregate fine and coarse are satisfied Iraqi specification No. 45.
Plastic covers of plastic water drink bottles were collected and
have been cut to be used as coarse aggregate with maximum size
of 14 mm, see Fig. 1. This type of plastic can be classified as low
density plastic according to its low specific gravity, which is equal
to 0.94. Proportions of mixing are illustrated in Table 2. The water
content of each mix varied in order to obtain slump for all mixes
about 75 ± 5 mm.
2.2. Tests
Compressive (cylinder and cubic specimens, flexural, and split-
ting strengths tests were made according to ASTM C39, 2005; BS
EN 12390-3, 2009 ASTM C78 and ASTM C496, 2005 respectively.
Bond strength test was made according to RILEM (1994), using
cubic specimens of dimension 100
100
100 mm. U 10 mm
steel bar was imbedded in concrete and details of test and speci-
mens are illustrated in Fig. 2. Six two-way reinforced concrete
slabs of dimensions 500
500
65 mm have been tested under
repeated impact load, which was applied by dropping 4.5 kg steel
ball from a 450 mm height on center of top surface for concrete
slab, see Fig. 3. Two –way slabs were reinforced by U 6 mm steel
bars spaced at 120 mm in two directions, 10 mm cover was provid-
ing in every sides of slab.
3. Results and discussions
3.1. Strengths evaluations
3.1.1. Concrete density and strengths
Compressive strength was examined utilizing 150 mm
diameter
300 mm height cylindrical specimens, and
150
150
150 mm cubes, subjected to constant rate axial com-
pression load 14 N/cm2/min until the failure, results have been
recorded in Table 3. From experimental results, it can be seen that
the compressive strength increased at a 15% and 30% substitution
rate with the plastic aggregate produced from the plastic caps
(CPPA) compared to the reference mix. The 15% gave the highest
increase in resistance as shown in Fig. 4, whereas, the compressive
strength started to drop sharply at a replacement rate of more than
30% CPPA, especially for 75% CPPA. The reason for this behavior is
due to a redistribution of stresses between the soft component (i.e.
Fig. 1. Plastic aggregate.
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Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences 33 (2021) 337–345
the plastic aggregate here) and the hard component (i.e. gravel) at
moderate replacement levels with the plastic aggregate, resulting
in the transfer of stress from the plastic to the gravel and delaying
failure. (Azhdarpour et al 2016). Other researchers have found sim-
ilar results at low replacement levels (Yang et al., 2015; and
Azhdarpour et al., 2016). Whereas when the level of substitution
with plastic aggregate increases, it leads to a decrease in compres-
sive strength, the reason for this may be because the plastic has
lower strength and stiffness compared to the natural aggregate,
which causes the plastic aggregate to act as concentrations zones
for stresses that help to propagation of the damage. Another reason
is the weak transition zone between the plastic particles and the
surrounding cement paste (Islam et al., 2016; Gesoglu et al.,
2017; Jacob-Vaillancourt and Sorelli, 2018). As it was mentioned
above, the compressive strength has been examined utilized cylin-
drical and cubic specimens. The ratio of cylinder Compressive
strength (f’c) to cubic compressive strength (fcu) equal to 0.8 for
normal concrete but this value is not valid for CPPA concrete as
the results showed in Table 3. In general, incorporating of CPPA
led to decrease in both fresh and dry density of concrete as shown
in Table 3 and Fig. 5. This is because the CPPA has a lower specific
gravity (0.94) compared to gravel (2.76). At high level of replace-
ment more than 45, the dry unite weight decreased to
be < 2000 kg/m3, which mean the concrete can be classified as
lightweight concrete.
3.1.2. Indirect tensile strength
For tensile strength evaluation of concrete, direct tensile
strength test is invalid because the concrete is weak in tension,
so indirect tensile strength tests proposed by ACI, 2019 are
depended. The indirect tensile strength tests represent by splitting
tensile strength and flexural tensile strength. Experimental value
of splitting tensile strength and the one predicted by ACI code
equation have been recorded in Table 4 and Fig. 6 with percentages
of increasing and decreasing. A comparison has been made
between experimental value and the one predicted by utilizing
ACI code eq. as shown in Table 4. Results showed a good match
between experimental and predicted value for reference speci-
mens. While this equation give under estimated values of splitting
strength for 15% and 30% CPPA and overestimated the values of
splitting strength for higher plastic content compared experimen-
tal results.
According to experimental value of splitting tensile strength, an
empirical relationship between compressive strength and splitting
strength was obtained (See Fig. 7) as following . .
fsp = 0.0725f’c 1.0703
R2 = 0.9907
where; fsp is splitting tensile strength, MPa, f’c is compressive
strength, MPa and R2 is coefficient of determination
S. Mahmoud Hama Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences 33 (2021) 337–345

Table 2
Mix proportion details.

No. of Mix Sample Cement kg/m3 Sand kg/m3 Gravel kg/m3 Water kg/m3 Plastic aggregate kg/m3
1 R 375 670 1220 150 –
2 PA15% 375 670 1037 150 62.55
3 PA30% 375 670 854 155 125.10
4 PA45% 375 670 671 158 187.66
5 PA60% 375 670 488 160 250.21
6 PA75% 375 670 305 165 312.76

Fig. 2. Bond strength test machine.

Fig. 4. Compressive strength vs. plastic content percentage.

Fig. 3. Details of impact test. Fig. 5. Density vs. plastic content percentage.

Table 3
Compressive vs. density.

No. Samples Cubic compressive strength (fcu) Cylinder compressive strength Difference f’c/fcu Fresh density kg/ Dry density kg/ Decreasing
Mpa (f’c) Mpa % m3 m3 %
1 R 44 35 – 0.975  0.8 2415 2402 –
2 PA15% 51.22 42 20% 0.82 2295 2286 4.8%
3 PA30% 4246.06 38 8.57% 0.825 2180 2165 9.86%
4 PA45% 42.05 32.8 6.28% 0.78 2062 2052 14.57%
5 PA60% 38.40 29.5 15.7% 0.77 1943 1925 19.86%
6 PA75% 26.67 20 42.86% 0.75 1826 1818 24.3%

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Table 4
Experimental value of splitting tensile strength vs. predicted value.

No. of Sample Compressive Splitting tensile strength difference Predicted Splitting tensile strength by ACI Eq. Experimental/
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
Mix strength Mpa (Experimental) Mpa % 0.56 f 0 c [21] predicted

1 R 35 3.29 – 3.31 0.995

2 PA15% 42 3.85 17.0% 3.63 1.06
3 PA30% 38 3.69 12.2% 3.45 1.07
4 PA45% 32.8 3.08 6.4% 3.21 0.96
5 PA60% 29.5 2.62 20.4% 3.04 0.86
6 PA75% 20 1.80 45.3% 2.50 0.72

Fig. 6. Splitting tensile strength vs. plastic content percentage.

Fig. 7. Splitting tensile strength vs. compressive strength.

While prisms of 100 mm * 100 mm * 400 mm were used to eval-

uate flexural strength under two-point load system. Experimental
results and predicted one by ACI code equation are recorded in
Table 5 and in Fig. 8, with percentages of increasing and decreas-
ing. Table 4 and 5 show that both splitting and flexural strengths Fig. 8. Flexural strength vs. plastic content percentage.
increased for 15% and 30% content of CPPA. While these strengths
have a shape close to the short fibers have the ability to bridge
decreased for the rest of the substitution ratios compared to the
cracks and stop their expansion, giving the matrix post-peak
reference mix. In order to explain these results, one might say that
toughness (Iucolano et al., 2013). However, for a higher plastic con-
for low to medium CPPA contents, the plastic waste particles that

Table 5
Experimental value of flexural tensile strength vs. predicted value.
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
No. of Sample Compressive strength Experimental flexural tensile strength difference Predicted by ACI equation 0.62 f 0c Experimental/
Mix Mpa Mpa % [13] predicted

1 R 35.0 3.62 – 3.66 0.99

2 PA15% 42.0 4.28 +18.9% 4.02 1.06
3 PA30% 38.0 4.00 +10.5% 3.82 1.05
4 PA45% 32.8 3.45 4.7% 3.55 0.97
5 PA60% 29.5 3.10 14.4% 3.37 0.92
6 PA75% 20.0 2.08 42.5% 2.77 0.75

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tent, the indirect tensile strength decreased with increasing aggre-

gate waste plastic content and the reason is that after reaching the
ultimate strength, most plastic particles do not fail but separat
from the surrounding cement paste due to weak bond. (Saikia
and de Brito, 2014). Comparison has also been made between
experimental value and the one predicted by utilizing ACI code
eq. as shown in Table 5. Results showed a good match between
experimental and predicted value for reference specimens. While
this equation give under estimated values of flexural strength for
15% and 30% CPPA and overestimated the values of flexural
strength for higher plastic content compared experimental results.
Base on experimental results, an empirical relationship between
compressive strength and Flexural strength was proposed
(See Fig. 9) as following .
ft = 0.1091f’c 0.9867 Fig. 10. Variation of bond strength vs. plastic content percentage.
R2 = 0.9977
where; ft is flexural tensile strength, MPa

3.2. Bond strength

Ultimate bond strength, s can be determined by following

equation
Pu
s¼ ð1Þ
pDL
Where, Pu is ultimate tensile load (N), D is diameter of rebar
(mm) and L is embedment length of rebar (mm). Results are shown
in Fig. 10, from these results an increasing in bond strength can be
observed at 15% and 30% CPPA. Maximum and minimum recorded
values of bond strength were 15.68 and 6.25 MPa for 15% CPPA and
75% CPPA respectively. And it is higher by 49.33% compared to
bond strength of reference specimen (10.5 MPa) for 15% CPPA, Fig. 11. Ultimate bond strength vs. compressive strength.
while it was lower by 40.48% for 75% CPPA compared to reference
specimens. In order to explain these results one can say that for
low to moderate content of CPPA, the waste plastic particles which s ¼ 0:126f 1:278
c ð2Þ
have shape close to short fibers has ability to bridge the cracks and 2
prevent them from extra extending, (Iucolano et al., 2013) which R = 0.9014
led to improve the bond characteristics. While reason behind where; s is ultimate bond strength, MPa.
decrement in bond strength for high content of plastic aggregate
can be explained to formation of voids, which lead to weakness
in the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) around plastic particle and 4. Evaluation of impact resistance capacity of two-way slabs
that effect on bonding between rebar and surrounding concrete
and that why all tested specimens failed by splitting. 4.1. Evaluation of improving in impact resistance in term of number of
Base on experimental results, an empirical relationship drop blows
between compressive strength and ultimate bond strength was
proposed (See Fig. 11) as following in Eq. (2). Number of drop blows at first visible crack and at failure were
recorded and listed in Table 6 and graphically in Fig. 12. Recorded
number of drop blow to cause the first invisible crack and failure
gave an indication of improving in capacity of two-way concrete
slabs subjected to impact load due to replacing the natural coarse
aggregate by CPPA. One can notice from the results recorded in
Table 6 below that the increase in CPPA content of up to 45% led

Fig. 9. Flexural tensile strength vs. compressive strength. Fig. 12. Number of blows related to plastic aggregate content.

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Table 6
No. of drop blows recorded at first visible crack and at failure.

No. of Mix Sample No of blow at first crack %increasing No of blow at failure %increasing
1 R 3 – 10 –
2 PA15% 5 66.67 25 150
3 PA30% 5 66.67 23 130
4 PA45% 4 33.33 20 120
5 PA60% 3 No increasing 15 50
6 PA75% 2 33.33 10 No increasing

to an increase in the number of strikes needed to cause the first

visible crack compared to the reference slab, but for 60% of the
plastic, after three strikes the crack appeared like a reference slab.
Increase in CPPA content of up to 60% led to an increase in the
number of strikes needed to cause failure compared to the refer-
ence slab, while for 75%, CPPA the first crack appeared just after
first strike.
This increase in impact resistance can be attributed to the elas-
tic characteristics of the plastic granules, unlike natural aggregate
of more stiff nature. This feature made the slabs, which contain
plastic, able to withstand more impact loads from repeated strikes
and this is the reason for the delaying in the appearance of cracks
and failure.
Fig. 13. Energy capacity related to plastic aggregate content.

4.2. Energy absorption capacity

The impact energy capacity absorbed (IECA) was calculated

using Eq. (3) as follow:

IECA ¼ N
M
G
H ð3Þ
Where; N = No. of blows
M = 4.5 (Mass of falling ball, kg)
G = 9.8 (gravity acceleration, m/s2) and
H = 0.45 (steel ball falling height, m)
The results of calculation of IECA were recorded in Table 7 and
graphically in Fig. 13.
IECA for specimens incorporating plastic aggregate increased
with increasing of plastic content up to 60% before failure. As it’s
known plastic particles have a high elastic properties, and this flex-
ibility property of plastic aggregate particle lead to enhanced con- Fig. 14. Energy capacity vs. percentages of plastic aggregate content.
crete ability to withstand more blows before failure, leading to
increase in the energy absorption capacity of concrete slabs.
Base on experimental results, an empirical relationship 4.3. Deflection and corresponding crack width
between energy capacity absorption of two-way slabs and percent-
ages of plastic content was proposed (See Fig. 14) as following in In order to record crack width and deflection, magnification
Eq. (4). microscope and electronic dial gauge were used, respectively.
The deflection was measured at mid-span of the slab where max-
imum deflection is expected. The results are recorded in Table 8
IECA ¼ 707:76P3  1095:5P2 þ 397:24P þ 60:17 ð4Þ and graphically in Figs. 15 and 16. Replacing nature coarse aggre-
2 gate by CPPA helped in delay cracks propagation and reduction
R = 0.9946
in width of cracks in slab subjected to repeated impact load for
Where; IECA is impact energy capacity absorbed, J and P is per-
plastic content up to 60%. Minimum crack width was observed
centage of plastic aggregate content

Table 7
Energy absorption capacity at first invisible crack and at failure.

No. of Mix Sample Energy capacity at first crack, J %increasing Energy capacity at failure, J %increasing
1 R 59.54 – 198.45 –
2 PA15% 99.23 66.67 496.125 150
3 PA30% 99.23 66.67 456.44 130
4 PA45% 79.38 33.33 396.9 120
5 PA60% 59.54 No increasing 297.68 50
6 PA75% 39.69 33.33 198.45 No increasing

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S. Mahmoud Hama
Fig. 15. Crack width variation with plastic aggregate content.
Fig. 16. Variation of mid-span deflection with plastic aggregate content.
for 30% plastic content, which was 0.06 and 0.5 mm at appearance
of first visible crack and at failure, respectively. While for 75% CPPA
content a maximum-recorded crack width was 0.2 and 2.05 mm at
appearance of first visible crack and at failure, respectively, and
this was higher than crack width for reference slab, which was
0.14 and 1.80 mm at appearance of first visible crack and at failure,
respectively. This is because as plastic aggregate content rose, a
weakness in concrete matrix occurred, and the concrete slabs
could not withstand further more impact load. With increasing of
replacing coarse aggregate by CPPA energy and number of blow
required to cause maximum deflection before failure increased.
The minimum deflection value was measured at 30% plastic con-
tent which were 0.06 and 0.5 mm at first visible crack appear
and at failure, respectively. While for 75%CPPA, maximum-
recorded deflections were 0.2 and 2.05 mm at appearance of first
visible crack and at failure, respectively, and it is higher than max-
imum deflection of reference slab, which are 0.14 and 1.80 mm at
appearance of first visible crack and at failure, respectively. As
plastic content rose, concrete slab could not withstand further
deflection during impact processes because of resulting weak bond
among plastic particles and surrounding mortar. Besides that, the
failure pattern of slabs under repeated impact load was also
observed. Inclusions of CPPA particle in concrete led to change in
mode of failure of slab from brittle failure mode to a more ductile
failure. Partial penetrations of specimens incorporating plastic
aggregate were observed with a local crushing at contact area
between iron ball and the slab. Slabs containing plastic aggregate
exhibited a more cracks numbers but with less width and less
crushing in contact area for slabs contented up to 60% CPPA con-
tent compared with the reference slab. The diameter of circular
damage for slabs at the rear face decreased for CPPA content up
to 60%, thereby indicating a less damage. Among all tested speci-
mens, R.C. slabs with 15% and 30% CPPA content showed the min-
imal damage. At a low and moderate plastic content (15%, 30% and
45%), specimens appeared to be more cohesive and more resistant
to repeated impact load. This is evident from the small width of
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Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences 33 (2021) 337–345
cracks and their late appeared compared to reference one, this
could be related to ability of CPPA particle on restriction the cracks
growth and improving matrix structure of concrete, and that led to
delay and minimize the damage of slabs and slow down of cracks
generation. However, for high plastic content (more than 60%), a
slight enhancement in resistance of the slab against scabbing
was noticed. This can be attributed to weak bond between the
aggregates and the cement matrix and this is because a higher
quantity of plastic aggregate cannot be well covered by surround-
ing cement paste Table 8.
5. Conclusions
The inclusion of the local waste material represented by plastic
bottles caps, in concrete as a partial substitute for coarse aggre-
gates (CPPA) has affected the mechanical properties of plain con-
crete, bonding strength, impact resistance and energy absorption
capacity of reinforced concrete as follows
1. The compression, splitting and flexural strengths have a ten-
dency to decrease below than the results of the reference mix
except mixes with 15% and 30% CPPA. For higher plastic con-
tent, the incorporation of CPPA aggregate inversely affected
the strength properties.
2. The comparison between laboratory results of flexural and
splitting strengths with those calculated by ACI equations,
showed that these equations are not suitable for concrete con-
taining CPPA as a partial substitute for coarse aggregate. There-
fore empirical equations were proposed based on the
experimental results of calculating splitting and flexural
strengths for concrete incorporating CPPA as functions of com-
pressive strength with R2 (coefficient of determination) more
than 0.9.
3. Ultimate bond strength between concrete and reinforcement
bar decreased with utilizing CPPA particles, except for the mix
contented 15% of CPPA, which was higher by 49.33% compared
to bond strength of reference specimen. Besides that an empir-
ical equation was proposed based on the experimental results
of calculating ultimate bond strength for concrete incorporating
CPPA as functions of compressive strength with R2 0.9014.
4. The number of blows required to cause failure of the two-way
R.C. slabs by impact increased with incorporating CPPA, except
for the mix contented 75% of CPPA, which showed a results
close to the reference slab at failure.
5. Energy absorption capacity of the two-way R.C. slabs under
repeated impact load, increased with incorporating CPPA,
except for the mix contented 75% of CPPA, which showed
results close to the reference slab. An empirical equation was
proposed based on the experimental results of calculating
energy absorption capacity for concrete incorporating CPPA as
functions of percentage of CPPA content with R2 0.9946.
6. Replacing nature coarse aggregate by CPPA helped in delay
cracks propagation and reduction in width of cracks in slab sub-
jected to repeated impact load for plastic content up to 60%.
7. Minimum crack width was observed for 30% plastic content,
which was 0.06 and 0.5 mm at appearance first visible crack
and at failure, respectively. While for 75% CPPA content a max-
imum recorded crack width was 0.2 and 2.05 mm at appearance
first visible crack and at failure, respectively, and this was
higher than crack width for reference slab, which was 0.14
and 1.80 mm at appearance first visible crack and at failure,
respectively.
8. According to results of this investigation, for structural rein-
forced concrete, 15% and 30% of this type of plastic is recom-
mended to be used as partial replacement of gravel.
S. Mahmoud Hama
Table 8
Recorded crack width and deflection at first invisible crack and failure.
No. of Mix Sample Width of first crack, mm Maximum crack width at failure, mm
1 R 0.14 1.80
2 PA15% 0.08 0.60
3 PA30% 0.06 0.50
4 PA45% 0.10 0.85
5 PA60% 0.14 1.52
6 PA75% 0.20 2.05
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
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