Journal Article Review

Fakhruddin, R Irmawaty, R Djamaluddin, and D A Rudy (2021), “Flexural Behavior of Reinforced

Concrete Beams using PET Plastic as Partial Replacement of Coarse Aggregate,” IOP Conf.
Series: Earth and Environmental Science 871 (2021) 012021. Reviewed by Tom Andrei Tan and
Angelie Yabut.

In this article, Fakhruddin et al. investigates the flexural behavior of reinforced concrete
beams using Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) plastic as partial replacement of course aggregate.
Researchers argues that there is potential for using plastic wastes in conjunction with other
building materials, such concrete.

To address this argument, Fakhruddin et al. investigated the flexural behavior of reinforced
concrete beams using Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) plastic as partial replacement of course
aggregate. Under a static load, two control beams (CB) and two PET plastic beams were tested.
Beams were 3300 mm long and 150 mm by 250 mm in size. To further improve the tensile strength
of the regular concrete and PET concrete, 0.5% 3D steel fiber by weight of cement was added to
the entire mixture. All beams' load-displacement and strain graphs were created, and their stiffness,
flexural strength, and failure mode were compared and analysed. The concrete mix proportions
and mixing design was taken based on the experimental results carried by Irmawaty (2019), and
the concrete mixing method was developed based on ASTM C1116/C1116M. During the beam
test, cylinder specimens were examined for compressive strength. The tests were conducted in
accordance with ASTM C39. The results shows that there is a reduction in compressive strength
brought on by the PET plastic material was found to be ineffective by the addition of 10% PET to
concrete. The strength of PET concrete was 38.7% lower than that of regular concrete. In addition,
a 10% PET content beam has a 23.1% lower ultimate load capacity than the control beam.
Moreover, the deflection at peak load was decreased. The concrete's load-deflection response
somewhat altered when PET was added. When 10% PET is employed, where all beams failed
under flexure, the failure mode is not change.

The study of Fakhruddin et al. was very commendable that they thought of using plastic
wastes in conjunction with other building materials such as concrete. With their study, they have
addressed the dilemma concerning the increase in the regular use of various plastic containers,
such as Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) around the world. However, we would argue that the
results of this study is limited only to the concrete beams with aggregates replaced or added by
Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET). As mentioned in the study, there are various types of plastics
that can be replaced or added to the concrete beams such as high-density polyethylene (HDPE),
and polypropylene (PP). These plastic types has different characteristics and properties that may
have a different result from this study. Secondly, the study of Manasser et al. (1997), concrete
containing plastic aggregates from car bumpers has a more ductile behavior than comparable
 concrete made with conventional aggregates. This ductile behaviour is important in reducing crack
formation in concrete structures. With this study, the ductility of a concrete with plastic aggregates
would be enhanced if plastic aggregates from car bumpers would be used. Lastly, the shredding
size of the plastic must also be studied as this may affect the flexural behaviour of a concrete beam.
Since they study the replacement of a PET plastic, they must try using different shredding size if
the PET plastic, may be finer or larger in size.

Generally, the study provided significant information about the flexural behavior of
reinforced concrete beams using PET plastic as a partial replacement of coarse aggregate. Results
of this study may be used to similar studies in the future. This proves that the use of PET plastics
as a partial replacement to coarse aggregates in concrete beams are ineffective in terms of its
flexural behaviour.

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