STRENGTH, MODULUS OF ELASTICITY AND SHRINKAGE BEHAVIOUR OF CONCRETE CONTAINING WASTE CARPET FIBER

Abstract

This paper presents test results on some physical and mechanical properties of concrete
containing fiber from recycled carpet waste. Five concrete mixes namely plain concrete (PC) i.e. concrete
without carpet fiber, as control and carpet fiber reinforced concrete (CFRC) mixes containing 0.5%, 1.0%,
1.5% and 2.0% polypropylene (PP) waste carpet fibers were made and tested for compressive, tensile and
flexural strengths, modulus of elasticity and shrinkage at curing periods of 1, 7 and 28 days. It has been found
that the addition of carpet fiber reduced the workability and density of concrete. Concrete containing carpet
fiber exhibited lower compressive strength and modulus of elasticity than plain concrete. The carpet fibers,
however, effectively improved the splitting tensile and flexural strengths of concrete. The obtained values of
shrinkage revealed that the shrinkage strain of carpet fiber reinforced concrete was higher than that of plain
concrete. On the basis of short-term investigation, the one-year shrinkage values of both plain concrete and
concrete containing carpet fiber were also predicted by extrapolating the data obtained during this period.
The results obtained in this study indicate that waste carpet fiber can suitably be used as fiber reinforcement
in concrete with satisfactory performance.