Mortar with Substituted Recycled PET Powder: Experimental Characterization and Data-Driven Strength Predictive Models
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 35, Issue 9
Abstract
The physical and mechanical characteristics of a novel mortar that uses recycled PET powder as a replacement for natural sand are examined in this paper. This study specifically looks at the impacts of replacing recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) powder in place of fine aggregates in mortars. To create five distinct mortar mixes, recycled PET powder was substituted in varying proportions (0%–30% by volume of the sand). The investigation focuses on the physical and mechanical characteristics of the material, including density, slump, water absorption, ultrasonic pulse velocity, flexural and compressive strength, and microstructural and interface characterization. Results reveal that the substitution of recycled PET powder reduces slump, compressive strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity, dry and wet density, and slump, whereas flexural strength and fracture energy exhibit the reverse tendency. The slump variation indicates the controllable workability of the mortar in the fresh state. The latter feature is quite important for the application of such a material where flowability is a dominating parameter, e.g., 3D printing. Two data-driven models for the compressive and flexural strength reduction factors as a function of the substitution ratio based on symbolic regression techniques are proposed using the findings of this study in conjunction with data from the literature.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge COREPLA (Consorzio Nazionale per la raccolta, il riciclo ed il recupero degli imballaggi in plastica) for providing the PET powder adopted in this study. Beibei Xiong acknowledges the China Scholarship Council (CSC) scholarship for her fellowship at Politecnico di Torino. Cristoforo Demartino is acknowledging the Zhejiang University-University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign Institute (ZJUI) for the financial support given to the present research. The authors also thank the support of Feng Tian (Ph.D. Student at ZJUI) for helping with SEM tests (Nano-fabrication Facility at ZJUI Institute).
Author contributions: Beibei Xiong: writing—original draft, methodology, conceptualization, formal analysis, and investigation; Devid Falliano: formal analysis, methodology, conceptualization, and writing—review and editing; Luciana Restuccia: writing—review and editing; Fabio Di Trapani: writing—review and editing; Cristoforo Demartino: supervision, original draft, methodology, conceptualization, and writing—review and editing; and Giuseppe Carlo Marano: supervision and writing—review and editing.
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Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 35 • Issue 9 • September 2023
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© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Nov 29, 2022
Accepted: Feb 17, 2023
Published online: Jun 28, 2023
Published in print: Sep 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Nov 28, 2023
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Cited by
- Beibei Xiong, Devid Falliano, Luciana Restuccia, Fabio Di Trapani, Cristoforo Demartino, Giuseppe Carlo Marano, Concrete Incorporating Recycled Plastic Aggregates: Physical and Mechanical Properties and Predictive Models, Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, 10.1061/JMCEE7.MTENG-16483, 36, 6, (2024).