applied
sciences
Article
Application of Machine Learning to Predict the Mechanical
Characteristics of Concrete Containing Recycled
Plastic-Based Materials
Sina Rezvan 1 , Mohammad Javad Moradi 2 , Hamed Dabiri 3 , Kambiz Daneshvar 2 , Moses Karakouzian 4
and Visar Farhangi 5, *
Citation: Rezvan, S.; Moradi, M.J.;
Dabiri, H.; Daneshvar, K.;
Karakouzian, M.; Farhangi, V.
Application of Machine Learning to
Predict the Mechanical Characteristics
of Concrete Containing Recycled
Plastic-Based Materials. Appl. Sci.
2023, 13, 2033. https://doi.org/
10.3390/app13042033
Academic Editor: Andrea Carpinteri
Received: 20 January 2023
Revised: 30 January 2023
Accepted: 1 February 2023
Published: 4 February 2023
Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
4.0/).
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13, 2033. https://doi.org/10.3390/app13042033
1 Department of Civil Engineering, Razi University, Kermanshah 67144-14971, Iran
2 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada
3 Department of Earth Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome & CERI Research Center, P.le Aldo Moro 5,
00185 Roma, Italy
4 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction, University of Nevada,
Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA
5 Department of Civil Engineering, Construction Management, and Environmental Engineering,
Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA
* Correspondence: visar.farhangi@nau.edu
Abstract: One of the practical ways to overcome the adverse environmental effects of plastic bottle
waste is to implement bottles into concrete, one of the most widely used materials in the construction
industry. Plastic bottles are mainly made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and can be used as
a fiber to reinforce concrete. In recent years, PET fiber-reinforced concrete (PFRC) has attracted
researcher attention, and several experimental studies have been conducted. This paper aims to
present the benefits of using PET fiber as a reinforcing element in concrete using a machine learning
approach. By considering the effect of PET fibers in concrete, engineers and stakeholders may be
encouraged to further use these recycled materials. The proposed network was successfully able
to capture the response of PFRC with high accuracy (mean squared error (MSE) of 7.11 MPa and R
coefficient of 98%). The results of the proposed network show that the amount of PET fiber usage in
concrete has a significant effect on the compressive strength of PFRC. Moreover, the PFRC’s response
considering the variation of mechanical and geometrical properties of PET fiber mainly depends on
the fiber’s shape. The most effective shapes of PET fiber are shapes with deformation, followed by
embossed and irregular shapes.
Keywords: compressive strength; PET fiber; artificial neural network; generalization
1. Introduction
Concrete, as a popular construction material in the building industry, has several
drawbacks, such as a low resistance capacity against tension. Reinforcing the concrete
overcomes this defect. Using fibers with different materials is one of these reinforcing
methods. Typically, fibers can be made using various polymers, glasses, carbons, or other
naturally available materials. Concrete-containing fiber-reinforced materials, such as fiber-
reinforced concrete (FRC), can offer superior properties compared to plain concrete. The
mechanical characteristics of FRC can be identified based on the type and dosage of fiber
and cement matrices, and specifically the geometrical and weight/volumetric percentages
of the fibers and cementitious material. Moreover, the fibers’ mechanical properties and
the available adherence between the cement and fiber matrices can affect the structural
resistance of concrete [1,2]. The fibers reduce the possibility of cracking, and consequently
increase the energy absorbed in the fracture process. Furthermore, the implementation of
fiber in precast concrete has a positive effect on structures [3–5]. Several factors, such as
length to equivalent diameter of the fiber’s ratio, the number of fibers, and their orientation,
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13, 2033 2 of 14

shape, and spread within the cement matrix affect fiber’s efficiency in enhancing the
mechanical properties of concrete [6,7].
In recent decades, the issue of reusing waste plastics has attracted researcher attention,
considering the environmental and economic impacts of the construction industry [8,9]. This
plastic waste has the advantage of being available in large quantities at low prices [10,11].
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is one of the subcategories of the large polyethylene family,
produced worldwide to a great extent due to various advantages, such as a higher resistance,
lighter weight, and lower production cost compared to classical plastics [12]. PET is mainly
acquired from plastic container bottles that can be used to store water, beverages, and food
packages [1]. To reduce water and land pollution, these plastic bottles are required to be
properly recycled. Furthermore, recycling PET waste requires special consideration regarding
the process of color changes and degradation impurities of the recycled material. Therefore,
incremental costs of recycling are predictable [12,13]. Moreover, the recycling rate of PET
bottles is lower compared to the disposal rate, which is about 60 million bottles per hour [14,15].
Therefore, the need for efficient and economic solutions regarding the PET bottle waste is
inevitable. The use of PET bottles as continuous long strips arranged in grids to reinforce
a concrete element can be considered as one of the methods of recycling PET bottles. This
requirement of arranging long strips is currently an important obstacle in the discipline of
construction materials. In this context, numerous research studies have been conducted. The
promising outcomes on improving the mechanical properties of materials encourage further
studies to offer novel methods for using these fibers to enhance the structural response of
produced concrete mixtures [1,16].
The prime objective of the presented article is to illustrate the benefits of using PET
fiber as a reinforcing method in concrete. This approach is implemented by predicting the
mechanical properties of concrete including PET fiber, and by adopting an artificial neural
network (ANN) technique. As this machine learning approach has a reasonable accuracy,
robustness, and time-saving ability, it was used as a method to estimate the mechanical
properties of PFRC. It is worth noting that the main objective is the practical application
of ANN in determining the required properties for the concrete industry, as well as an
accurate prediction of the mechanical properties of PFRC. In this regard, the understanding
about PET fiber reinforced concrete (PFRC) will be improved, and consequently will lead
to increasing the incorporation of PRFC in construction practice. Moreover, this research
identifies the effect of the most important parameters with the significant impact on the
mechanical properties of fiber-reinforced concrete. The ANN is a reliable soft computing
approach that can address convoluted issues, however, the shortcomings of this approach
should be considered in the process of analysis. This study presents a method to assess
the concrete’s compressive strength containing PET fiber by adopting neural networks.
In order to establish the ANNs, empirical data of an extensive dataset is used. The final
outcomes of the conducted simulation by adopting ANN methods are incorporated to
evaluate the connection between the different parameters and their effect to accurately
estimate the PFRC’s compressive strength.

2. Artificial Neural Network

One of the advantages of neural network applications is the ability to offer user-
friendly models with a higher accuracy compared to complex natural systems, which
require including large datasets as inputs [17,18]. Neural networks incorporate uncom-
plicated operating elements with parallel operations which are inspired by the human
brain’s functions. The interconnections of components in nature determine the network
operations [19,20]. In this context, the components’ relationship in a neural network can
be simulated by assigning a weight to each connection in order to identify and adjust the
participation values for each connection. Appropriate training and correct adjustments of
the neural network will lead to trustworthy outcomes. Minimizing errors in the simula-
tion process is the most critical part of neural network training and can be achieved by
adjusting and optimizing the weight values during the learning process through iterative
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13, 2033 3 of 14

procedures to reduce the error with an acceptable range. During the iterative procedures,
the weight values will be initialized and optimized, and the predicted results will be
estimated accordingly. Furthermore, the errors corresponding to each iteration will be
determined. The higher error values during the initial steps show the random assignments
of weight values and can be optimized during the learning procedure. The main concern
during the training produce of the neural network is to assign correct weights to reach the
minimum errors for all included data. The required weight numbers in the majority of
artificial network methods are considerable due to various involved parameters, which
complicate finding the correct weight values. Additionally, weight estimation using trial
and error is time-consuming and inefficient. The gradient descent method is an efficient
approach to detect the least error sets promptly in the network’s training process. The
gradient descent method incorporates the error gradient in order to descend the network’s
error [21,22]. The calculated error is contingent on the network’s output, which in respect
relates to the hidden neurons’ weighted outputs. Therefore, the chain rule of differentiation
is applicable from the error to weight of the first layer, ∂w∂Enm . This approach is defined
as backpropagation and was originally introduced by Werbos [23] and was improved by
Rumelhart [24]. The backpropagation approach is an algorithm that was developed based
on the concept of gradient descent by shifting the network weights against the direction of
the performance function slope. Indeed, the “backpropagation” of the network refers to
the backward propagation of the error signal. According to the error signal, the hidden
units would be capable of determining their error and adjusting the weights [25,26].
The neural network follows the main assumptions as follows:
1. Neurons are simple members responsible for processing the data;
2. The neurons pass over connection links achievable by signals;
3. Specific weight values are assigned to each connection;
4. To calculate the outputs, neurons should transmit the input data from the defined
activation function;
The neural network can be identified based on the given activation functions, devel-
oped architecture, and the assigned algorithm. The objective is to efficiently reduce the
number of required experiments in a time-efficient and cost-effective approach [27,28].

2.1. Dataset
A deep and careful survey of the literature was conducted to establish a model based
on the machine learning approach to predict the compressive strength of the concrete
containing PET fibers. The dataset includes 85 samples with 12 distinguishable features.
The collected dataset contains information about water content (W), binder (B), coarse
aggregate (G), fine aggregate (S), PET fibers (P), tensile strength of PET fibers (Ft ), PET fiber
modulus of elasticity (E), PET fiber length (l), PET fiber width (d), unit weight of PET fiber
(U), and PET shapes (F). Four different fiber shapes are considered based on the available
experimental studies in the literature, namely string shape, irregular shape, deformed
shape, and embossed shape (Figure 1). The mold of specimens was also considered, so
the compressive strength was converted to a 150 mm cubic standard mold. The PFRC’s
28-day compressive strength is considered as the network’s output. The statistical indices
for PFRC are summarized in Table 1. The distribution of the features are shown in Figure 2.
 Appl. Sci. 2023, 13, 2033 4 of 14

Plan Section Plan Section Plan Section Plan Section

String Deformed Irregular Embossed

Figure 1. Four different types of PET shape considered in the dataset.

Table 1. Statistical parameters for the concrete containing PET fiber dataset.

Attribute Unit Min Max Average Standard Deviation

Water kg/m3 79.7 225 183.3 38.5
Binder kg/m3 290 558 408.3 63
Coarse aggregate kg/m3 600 1223 882.6 175.8
Fine aggregate kg/m3 677.5 1000 838.3 111.1
PET fiber kg/m3 0.64 27 10.1 5.8
Fiber tensile strength MPa 100 550 188.5 139.5
Fiber modulus of elasticity MPa 190 12,000 3821 3720.5
Fiber length mm 10 64 32.2 15.6
Fiber width mm 0.2 12 1.9 2.1
Fiber unit weight kg/m3 1100 1800 1331 215.7
Fiber shape - - - - -
28-day compressive strength MPa 20.9 84.7 45.7 16.3

25
25 25

20 20 20

15 15 15
Count

Count

Count

10 10 10

5 5
5

0 0
0
60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300
300 350 400 450 500 550
3
3
3 Water (kg/m )
Coarse aggregate (kg/m )
Binder (kg/m )

(a) 25
(b) (c)
25 60

20 50
20

40
15
15
Count

Count
Count

30

10
10

20

5
5
10

0
0
0
0 5 10 15 20 25
100 200 300 400 500 600
650 700 750 800 850 900 950 1000 1050
3
3 PET (kg/m )
Fine aggregate (kg/m ) Fiber tensile strength (MPa)

(d) (e) (f)

Figure 2. Cont.
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13, 2033 5 of 14

25
30
45

40
25
20

35

20
30
15

Count

Count
Count

25
15

20
10

10
15

10 5
5

0 0
0
10 20 30 40 50 60 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10,000 12, 000 14,000

Fiber length (mm) Fiber width (mm)

Fiber modulus of elasticity (MPa)

(g) 60
(h) (i)
25
25

50
20
20

40

15
15
Count
Count

Count
30

10
10

20

5
5

10

0 0
1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 0
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
String Irregular Deformed Embossed
3
Fiber unit weight (kg/m )
shape shape Compressive strength (MPa)
shape shape

(j) (k) (l)

Figure 2. The histograms for features of the network (a) Binder (kg/m3 ), (b) Water (kg/m3 ), (c) Coarse
aggregate (kg/m3 ), (d) Fine aggregate (kg/m3 ), (e) PET fiber (kg/m3 ), (f) Fiber tensile strength (MPa),
(g) Fiber modulus of elasticity (MPa), (h) Fiber length (mm), (i) Fiber width (mm), (j) Fiber unit
weight (kg/m3 ), (k) Fiber shape, (l) Compressive strength (MPa).

2.2. Network Modeling

In general, the modeling procedure can be defined as the procedure of delineating a
physical phenomenon using mathematical functions [29,30]. It is critical to optimize the
network’s design to provide a lightweight and high-quality product simultaneously [31].
Considering a direct solution is not available for estimating the number of neurons for
each layer and the number of hidden layers. These numbers can be estimated using a
trial-and-error process. To offer the best possible architecture for the ANN model, nu-
merous structures using different neurons and hidden layer numbers have been analyzed.
The findings on the network’s performance indicated that a single hidden layer network
including 19 neurons provides the maximum accuracy to predict the PFRC’s compressive
strength for 28 days.
In order to maintain the initial database’s relationships, the input features are normal-
ized with a linear approach in a range between 0 and 1 [19]. Training the neural network
was fulfilled by adopting the Levenberg–Marquardt (LM) algorithm, since this method
has suitable convergence, more precision, and is time-efficient [32,33]. The LM algorithm
randomly separated the datasets into three parts: 15% was reserved for validation, 70% was
used to train the network, and the remaining percentage was used to test the performance
of network. TANSIG (Equation (1)) and PURELIN (Equation (2)) were adopted as the
activation functions for the hidden and output layers, respectively. The learning process of
the network terminates if the desirable performance can be achieved.

2
y = tansig( x ) = −1 (1)
(1 + e−2x )
y = purlin( x ) = x (2)
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13, 2033 6 of 14

Network Performance
The concrete’s mechanical characteristics, including PET fibers, can be evaluated after
training the neural network. In this regard, the convoluted relationships between the input
data and their impact on the reported output can be evaluated. The networks’ performances
to determine the concrete’s 28-day compressive strength are presented in Figure 3a. The best
validation performance was reported as 0.0042 at the 13th epoch for PFRC’s compressive
strength. The estimation quality is the function of R as the coefficient of determination in
the network for all the datasets presented in Figure 3b, which illustrates the correlation
between the empirical date (target) and the ANN output. The overall response is based
on the R value almost equal to 1, verifying that the trained network produced the optimal
outcomes. The R value, including all analyzed datasets, is 0.9806, which is reasonable.
Moreover, the comparison of the target and output of the proposed network is illustrated
in Figure 4. It was observed that a desirable match is achieved between the empirical
results and outcomes. This correlation highlights the capability of the proposed network to
determine the PFRC’s compressive strength. Having the PFRC’s compressive strength may
help engineers and stakeholders better understand the response of concrete-containing PET
fibers, and lays the groundwork for further adoption of this clean and environmentally
friendly concrete.
: R=0.98061
1
Best Validation Performance is 0.0042312 at epoch 13
1 Data
10
0.9 Fit
Train
Y=T
Validation
Test 0.8
0
Mean Squared Error (m s e)

10 Best
0.7

0.6
-1
Output

10
0.5

0.4
-2
10
0.3

0.2
-3
10
0.1

-4 0
10 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Target
48 Epochs

(a) (b)
Figure 3. (a) The performance and (b) regression of the proposed network.

The statistical characteristics of the reported errors, such as root mean square error
(RMSE), correlation coefficient (R), mean square error (MSE), and mean absolute percentage
error (MAPE), were determined for evaluating the concrete’s compressive strength by the
ANN model. These errors can be calculated by Equation (3). Table 2 offers a comparison
regarding these error metrics including all the analyzed datasets incorporated in the
network. The zero value shows the best optimization for all statistical parameters (except
for R). On the other hand, the one value is the ideal number for R. The RMSE values
shows the deviation within the empirical and predicted values. The MAPE values identify
the prediction error and the ratio of the error to the empirical value [34]. The correlation
coefficient is considered to assess the predictive performance of the model [35]. The
statistical characteristics presented in Table 2 show that the predicted concrete’s compressive
strength using ANN network is comparable to the empirical values of PFRC tests. Such
comparable results highlight the functionality of the adopted ANN model.
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13, 2033 7 of 14

r
∑ ( T − P )2 1
N∑
RMSE = MSE = ( T − P )2
N (3)
∑( T − T̄ )( P − P̄)

100  T̄ − P 
N ∑ P 
MAPE =   R= p p
∑ T − T̄ )2 ∑( P − P̄)2
(

where T and P are the target and predicted values, and the T̄ and P̄ parameters are the
averages of the target and the predicted values, respectively.

90

80
Compressive strength (MPa)

70

60

50

40

30

Target

Output
20

0 20 40 60 80

Number of data points

Figure 4. The comparison of the target and output of PFRC.

Table 2. MSE, RMSE, MAPE, R coefficient for entire data in the network.

Performance of the Network

Output
MSE RMSE MAPE R
Compressive
7.11 2.66 2.88 0.9806
strength of PFRC

2.3. Analysis of the Network Sensitivity

As mentioned in Section 2, the weight of each neuron shows its significance during the
prediction process. The Garson’s factor [36] is adopted to determine the relative significance
of the analyzed features in the neural network. The offered equation for a network with a
single hidden layer is as follows:
 
L wij
∑ j =1 v
∑rN=1 wrj jk
Qik =   (4)
N L wij
∑i=1 ∑ j=1 N w jk v
∑ r =1 rj

where ∑rN=1 wrj presents the sum of the connection weights between the N input neurons
and the hidden neuron j, and v jk is the connection weight between the hidden neuron j and
the output neuron k [37]. The outcomes of the sensitivity analysis are presented in Figure 5.
As can be seen, almost all the parameters participated equally in the determined
compressive strength of PFRC. To consider the effect of all parameters, no irrelevant
or excess features have been chosen. Excessive features do not contribute additional
information and may lead to degradation in the learning algorithm’s performance and an
increase in the computational cost [17,38]. Nonetheless, the amount of PET fiber plays an
important role in the 28-day compressive strength of PFRC. This is in accordance with the
experimental results of Barluenga [39], Watts et al. [40], and Tang et al. [41], in which the
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13, 2033 8 of 14

PET fibers play a positive role in reducing the number and formation of micro-cracks. The
lowest importance belongs to the modulus of elasticity of PET fibers. This is in accordance
with proven facts and experimental studies. The bond strength of PET fiber is not significant
as these fibers are smooth [42]. Therefore, PET fibers will pull out from the concrete matrix
before reaching their ultimate strength [43]. In some cases, these fibers fail because of high
applied tensile strength [44,45]. This is the reason that the importance of PET fiber tensile
strength is higher that the effect of PET fiber modulus of elasticity.

14

12

10
Importance (%)

2
10.1

9.61

7.05

9.07

12.5

8.14

4.71

10.6

10.2

8.21

9.88
0
Coarse aggregate

Fine aggregate

Fiber tensile

Fiber modulus

Fiber shape
Binder

Water

PET fiber

Fiber unit weight

strength

of elasticity

Fiber length

Fiber width

Figure 5. Relative importance of the input parameters in the proposed model.

However, as Figure 5 indicates, the other features have an influence on the com-
pressive strength of PFRC as well. These influences are multi-factored, interwoven, and
sophisticated, and can be considered only with numerical-based methods, such as machine
learning (ML). ML-based methods are able to involve all the features in the final results
simultaneously, and provide the outcomes for each feature’s variation. In the upcoming
section, the ability of the proposed network in determining unseen data, i.e., the dataset
that is not previously fed into the network and that the model has never trained before,
will be evaluated.

3. Results
After ensuring the accuracy of the proposed network in estimating the compressive
strength of PFRC, a generalization analysis can be performed. Generalization is the ca-
pability of the ML-based approaches to treat unseen data which depends directly on the
network training. The generalization ability can further demonstrate the achievement of
any ML-based method on real world data. In this section, the effect of most important
features on the 28-day compressive strength of PFRC is evaluated using unseen data and
the generalization ability of the network.

3.1. Effect of Amount of PET Fiber and Its Geometrical Properties

In order to find out the effect of various amounts of PET fibers, along with the impact of
geometrical characteristic of PET fibers on the compressive strength of PFRC, the network’s
capability in predicting unseen data is utilized. To do so, the other input features are kept
constant and the only parameters that vary are fiber content, fiber length, and fiber shape
in the PFRC. The assumed mix design for generalization analysis is summarized in Table 3.
The results hereafter are reported for the assumed mix design with the water-to-binder
ratio of 0.3.
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13, 2033 9 of 14

Table 3. Assumed mix design for generalization analysis.

Fine Aggregate Coarse Aggregate

Water (kg/m3 ) Binder (kg/m3 )
(kg/m3 ) (kg/m3 )
150 500 900 750

The effect of variation in fiber length and width is shown as the aspect ratio of the
fiber, which is the ratio of length over width of the PET fibers. Figure 6 demonstrates the
variation of the compressive strength due to changes in the PET content, PET shape, and
PET fiber aspect ratios. As can be seen, the effect of an increase in the aspect ratios for
all shapes is negative. In other words, increasing the length or reducing the width of the
PET fibers results in a reduction of the 28-day compressive strength of PFRC. Furthermore,
this negative impact is more dominant in higher amounts of fiber content. This can be
attributed to the fact that using PET fiber, especially with a higher content and/or higher
aspect ratios, causes flaws between the PET fibers and the concrete mass. This defect in
PFRC will make a weak region inside the dense mass of concrete matrix and can be the
origin of crack formations during loading. This is in accordance with the experimental
results [12,44–48].
By comparing the results of Figure 6, the effect of PET fiber shapes can be determined.
String-shape PET has an almost constant compressive strength for a wide range of various
aspect ratios. This means that the effect of this PET shape type on increasing the compressive
strength of PFRC can be neglected. This may be due to a lower bond strength between
the PET fibers and concrete matrix. In this context, Marthong and Sarma have presented
the comparable results [49]. However, the other fiber shapes that have a better interaction
with the concrete mass have a wider range of higher compressive strength, resulting in a
more stable response in the PFRC. In PET fiber shapes, except the string one, the optimum
amount of PET fiber usage is lower than 10 to 15 kg/m3 , which roughly equals 0.7 to
1% fiber replacement. The same results were obtained in the experimental studies of
Irwan et al. [50], Al-Hadithi and Hilal [51], Pandya and Purohit [52], Borg et al. [44], and
Ochi et al. [42].
The effect of PET fiber content is also obvious in Figure 6. As can be seen, an increase
in the fiber content results in an adverse effect on the compressive strength of PFRC. This is
in accordance with the experimental studies of Gu and Ozbakkalogl [53], Prahallada and
Prakash [54], and Nibudey et al. [55]. This may be due to clogging effect of PET fiber in
higher dosages. Moreover, it can be argued that the compressive strength of PFRC is under
the influence of both fiber content and fiber aspect ratio for any fiber shapes. It means that
these two parameters simultaneously affect the 28-day compressive strength of concrete
containing PET fibers.

3.2. Effect of the Mechanical Properties of PET Fiber

Since the PET fiber in the concrete matrix acts as a bridge to improve the consis-
tency of the concrete mass, the mechanical properties of these fibers have an essential
influence on the compressive strength of PFRC. Therefore, the effect of the mechanical
properties of PET fiber in terms of tensile strength (ft ) and modulus of elasticity (E) on
the compressive strength of PFRC is discussed. The generalization results are depicted in
Figure 7. According to the initial dataset and based on Figure 2h,g, the tensile strength
and modulus of elasticity of PET fiber are determined to be in the range of [100, 550] and
[200, 12,000], respectively. As can be seen from the results, the PET fiber shapes have an
important impact on the compressive strength of PFRC. For fiber with a string shape, the
most essential parameter is the PET fiber modulus of elasticity (E), as in a higher E, the
compressive strength has its maximum values. This trend is not in accordance with the
other fiber shapes, as in other fiber shapes, the maximum compressive strength occurs in
higher tensile strengths of PET fibers. This can be attributed to the fact that the string shape
fiber has a lower bond strength and the fiber pull out during the loading before they reach
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13, 2033 10 of 14

maximum tensile strength. However, the lower tensile strength of fiber results in a lower
compressive strength in all fiber shapes. For shapes of fiber with higher bond strengths,
the tensile strength of PET fibers plays an important role by bridging the concrete mass
and limiting crack formation and propagation [56–58]. Therefore, according to the results
of the ANN model for unseen data, it is strongly recommended to deform the shape of PET
fiber into some patterns to enhance its bond strength.

58.10 58.00

140 140

54.29 51.58

120 50.48 120 45.15

PET fiber aspect ratio

PET fiber aspect ratio

46.66 38.73

100 100

42.85 32.30

80 80
39.04 25.88

35.23 19.45
60 60

31.41 13.03

40 40

27.60 6.600

5 10 15 20 25 5 10 15 20 25

3 3
PET fiber content (kg/m ) PET fiber content (kg/m )

(a) (b)
44.50 50.80

140 140
38.94 44.82

120 33.38 120 38.85

PET fiber aspect ratio

PET fiber aspect ratio

27.81 32.88

100 100

22.25 26.90

80 80
16.69 20.92

11.13 14.95
60 60

5.563 8.975

40 40

0.000 3.000

5 10 15 20 25 5 10 15 20 25

3 3
PET fiber content (kg/m ) PET fiber content (kg/m )

(c) (d)
Figure 6. The variation of the 28-day compressive strength for different PET fiber content, as-
pect ratios, and fiber shapes. (a) String shape, (b) Irregular shape, (c) Deformed shape, and
(d) Embossed Shape.

In addition, the higher compressive strength of PFRC is related to PET fibers with
deformed shapes. Furthermore, the concrete made with this type of fiber has a wider
region of high strength, meaning that the maximum compressive strength occurs for a
higher number of specimens. Moreover, the variation of the compressive strength is
independent of the modulus of elasticity, which indicates that this type of fiber is cut
during loading due to the applied tensile strength. The same experimental results were
obtained by Borg et al. [44], showing the slipping of PET fibers with string shapes from
the concrete matrix and the suitable bond strength of deformed PET shapes. It can be
concluded that the most effective PET fiber shape is deformed, followed by embossed
and irregular. This is in accordance with the experimental research of Ochi et al. [42],
Kim et al. [59], and Schembri [60]. Furthermore, the deformed PET fiber shape improves
the shrinkage behavior of PFRC by limiting micro-crack formation [61–64].
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13, 2033 11 of 14

,
12 000 ,
12 000
37.28 49.40

Modulus of elastcity of fiber (MPa)

Modulus of elastcity of fiber (MPa)

36.66 47.26
,
10 000 ,
10 000

36.05 45.11

8000 8000
35.43 42.97

34.81 40.83
6000 6000

34.19 38.68

4000 4000

33.58 36.54

2000 2000
32.96 34.39

32.34 32.25

100 200 300 400 500 100 200 300 400 500

Tensile strength of fiber (MPa) Tensile strength of fiber (MPa)

(a) (b)
,
12 000 ,
12 000
63.80 42.40
Modulus of elastcity of fiber (MPa)

Modulus of elastcity of fiber (MPa)

55.82 37.10
,
10 000 ,
10 000

47.85 31.80

8000 8000
39.88 26.50

31.90 21.20
6000 6000

23.92 15.90

4000 4000

15.95 10.60

2000 2000
7.975 5.300

0.000 0.000

100 200 300 400 500 100 200 300 400 500

Tensile strength of fiber (MPa) Tensile strength of fiber (MPa)

(c) (d)
Figure 7. Variations of the 28-day compressive strength for different PET fibers, based on tensile
strength, modulus of elasticity, and fiber shapes. (a) String shape, (b) Irregular shape, (c) Deformed
shape, and (d) Embossed Shape.

4. Conclusions
Using waste PET fibers in concrete may reduce the adverse environmental effect
of plastic bottle waste. This paper aims to assess the unreported aspects of using PET
fibers in the mechanical properties of concrete. This may help engineers and stakeholders
understand the effect of PET fibers and increase their implementation to enhance the
mechanical properties and structural responses of concrete. Accordingly, an accurate
and comprehensive dataset collected from the available literature and an artificial neural
network were utilized to perform a generalization analysis. It was shown that the network
is able to predict the results with a MSE error of 7.11 MPa and correlation coefficient of 98%.
It can be concluded that the results of the proposed network may be used to understand the
response of PFRC. Moreover, it was shown that the most important factors on the behavior
of PFRC are PET fiber content, fiber aspect ratio, and fiber shape.
Generalization results indicate that an increase in the aspect ratio has an adverse impact
on the compressive strength of concrete. This negative impact is more dominant in higher
amounts of fiber content, which is due to the formation of weak regions in the concrete
mass. Moreover, by comparing the generalized results of the ANN model, it was concluded
that PET fiber shapes have an undeniable effect on the compressive strength of PFRC. This
effect mainly depends on the bond strength between PET fibers and the concrete matrix.
However, the mechanical properties of PET fiber, i.e., the tensile strength and modulus of
elasticity of PET fibers, play an important role in the compressive strength of PFRC. It was
demonstrated that the tensile strength of PET fibers is dominant in fibers with a higher
bond strength, while the modulus of elasticity of PET fiber affects the compressive strength
of FRC containing smooth PET fibers.
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13, 2033 12 of 14

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, S.R., M.J.M., K.D., and V.F.; methodology, S.R. and M.J.M.;
software, M.J.M.; validation, S.R. and M.J.M.; formal analysis, S.R., M.J.M., H.D., K.D., and V.F.;
investigation, S.R., M.J.M., H.D., K.D., and V.F.; resources, M.J.M., H.D., V.F., and M.K.; data curation,
S.R., H.D., K.D., and V.F.; writing—original draft preparation, S.R., M.J.M., and V.F.; writing—review
and editing, M.J.M. and V.F.; visualization, S.R., M.J.M., K.D., and and V.F.; supervision, M.K.; project
administration, M.K.; funding acquisition, M.K. All authors have read and agreed to the published
version of the manuscript.
Funding: This research received no external funding.
Institutional Review Board Statement: Not applicable.
Informed Consent Statement: Not applicable.
Data Availability Statement: The data presented in this study are available on request from the
corresponding author.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Abbreviations
The following abbreviations are used in this manuscript:

PET Polyethylene terephthalate

PFRC PET fiber-reinforced concrete
MSE Mean squared error
FRC Fiber reinforced concrete
ANN Artificial neural network
W Water content
B Binder
G Coarse aggregate
S Fine aggregate
P PET fiber
Ft Tensile strength of fiber
E Modulus of elasticity of fiber
l Length of fiber
d Width of fiber
U Unit weight of fiber
F Shape of fiber
LM Levenberg–Marquaedt
RMSE Root mean square error
MAPE Mean absolute percentage error
R Coefficient of correlation
ML Machine learning

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