Construction and Building Materials 209 (2019) 395–405

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Durability performance of a novel ultra-high-performance PET green

concrete (UHPPGC)
Aktham H. Alani a, N. Muhamad Bunnori b,⇑, Ahmed Tareq Noaman c, T.A. Majid a
a
School of Civil Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Malaysia
b
Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
c
University Of Anbar, College of Engineering, Department of Dams and Water Resources Engineering, Ramadi, Anbar, Iraq

h i g h l i g h t s

The production of green sustainable concrete utilising ultrafine palm oil fuel ash (UPOFA) and waste plastic Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) fibres was
presented in this study.

The proportions of UPOFA were (20% and 40%) as a partial replacement of the total cement binder combined with 1% PET fibres.

The combination of UPOFA and PET fibres enhanced strength and transport properties of Ultra-High-Performance PET Green Concrete (UHPPGC).

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

Article history: The production of green sustainable concrete with enhanced performance against severe environmental
Received 27 September 2018 conditions by using recycle waste materials has been a primary concern for recent studies. This article
Received in revised form 15 February 2019 reports a study on investigating the effect of incorporating ultra-fine palm oil fuel ash (UPOFA) with
Accepted 11 March 2019
shredded recycled waste bottle in form of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) on the engineering and trans-
Available online 15 March 2019
port properties of ultra-high-performance concrete. UPOFA was used as a partial replacement binder in
varied proportions (20% and 40%) of the total cement binder, whereas shredded recycled PET bottles were
Keywords:
added as reinforced fibre by 1% of the total mix volume. The greatest compressive strength was registered
PET fibres
Waste plastic fibres
by a combination of 20% UPOFA and PET fibre in U20-UHPPGC. The combination of 40% UPOFA and PET
Palm oil fuel ash fibres in U40-UHPPGC mix demonstrated a superior enhancement in terms of transport properties at
Sustainability of concrete ultra high the age of 28 days, such as porosity, initial surface absorption, gas permeability, water permeability
strength green concrete and rapid chloride permeability. Thus, pozzolanic UPOFA can improve the engineering and transport
Compressive strength properties of ultra-high-strength concrete. The overall results indicated that the PET fibre reinforced with
Engineering and transport properties UPOFA can produce UHPPGC with promising improvements in engineering and transport properties. The
Porosity incorporation of waste materials into concrete constructions can reduce cement consumption and pre-
Chloride permeability
vent the environmental pollution with save energy at the same time.
Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction majority of plastic types are non-biodegradable and are chemically

dis-reactive in the natural environment. Hence, plastic wastes are
The problem of discarded plastic wastes has become a major universally considered as a hazardous environmental pollution
issue in recent years, particularly in the context of developing problem [2,3]. Therefore, the employment of waste materials in
countries. Global plastic production increases daily, and the the concrete is one of the fundamental strategies of waste manage-
growth of plastic products has reached 322 million tons in 2015 ment in the world.
(Fig. 1) [1]. More than half of this production has created a huge An analysis of waste plastic generation showed a slight increase
amount of plastic wastes, which were one-off disposable. The from 2006 to 2014. Therefore, the amount of disposed plastic
wastes decreased by 4.9 million tons in the last 8 years, whereas
⇑ Corresponding author at: Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineer- waste recovery quantities increased by 6.2 million tons to 17.9
ing, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. million tons [1]. Recently, a series of papers has indicated to the
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (A.H. Alani), nmb77@um. possibility of using plastic wastes in mortar and concrete mixtures
edu.my (N.M. Bunnori), [email protected] (A.T. Noaman),
[email protected] (T.A. Majid).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.03.088
0950-0618/Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
396 A.H. Alani et al. / Construction and Building Materials 209 (2019) 395–405

et al. [4] observed that adding PET at a volume of 1% improves

the chloride permeability of concrete. Moreover, PET fibre as a
replacement material with sand at a volume of 3% reduces water
absorption and concrete porosity [22]. In a study by Kakooei
et al.[24], it was concluded that inclusion of plastic fibres in con-
crete resulted into lower gas permeability compared with concrete
without fibres.
In recent decades, fibrous concrete containing pozzolanic mate-
rials has been rapidly increased and given considerable attention
by many researchers in the world [20,23–28]. One of the newest
pozzolanic materials is palm oil fuel ash (POFA). The palm oil
industry is considered as a major agro industry in countries such
as Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Nigeria and Columbia. The extrac-
tion of palm oil produces a large amount of waste residues in the
form of fibres and kernels. These waste materials are typically used
as fuel for heating boilers to produce steam and generate electricity
in palm oil mills. The United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA) reported that the cumulative global production of palm
oil in 2016 and 2017 reached approximately 64.5 million metric
tons [25]. The ash derived from the process is known as POFA
Fig. 1. Global plastic production growing (1950–2015) [1]. [26]. A massive amount of POFA may contribute to environmental
problems in the future if it is not treated properly. However, previ-
ous research on the use of POFA in concrete reported that POFA has
low pozzolanic properties in its original form and cannot hold
to investigate the laboratory characteristics of waste plastic on more than 10% of cement mass as a partial replacement of cement
concrete. in cementitious or concrete production [27]. Therefore, a treatment
A common type of plastic that has been used in many products, process (i.e. grinding–burning–regrinding) has been recently
such as beverage containers, is polyethylene terephthalate (PET). adopted to produce ultrafine POFA (UPOFA) and improve the poz-
The amounts used have increased considerably and continuously, zolanic reactivity of POFA [28]. Many studies have indicated that
but the majority of PET plastic bottles used are currently discarded, UPOFA can provide adequate resistance to passive environmental
thereby causing considerable problems in terms of resource utili- ions. Thus, the use of UPOFA as a partial replacement binder with
sation and environmental pollution [4]. Accordingly, efforts have cement improves the compressive strength and transport proper-
been exerted on recycling used PET bottles as construction materi- ties of concrete [29,30]. Recent investigations have also reported
als [5,6]. that UPOFA can be used as a partial cement replacement material
Many studies have been conducted to utilize the huge amount for the purpose of producing high-strength concrete, ultrahigh-
of disposed PET products as additional or replacement materials strength concrete (UHSC) and ultrahigh-performance fibre rein-
in the form of aggregate or fibre in concrete mixtures. PET has been forced concrete (UHPFRC) [28,30,31].
used as fine or coarse aggregate in filling materials to form light- The main objective of this study is to investigate the effective-
weight concrete [6,7]. Studies have concluded that the inclusion ness of combination of 1% plastic PET reinforcing fibre with ultra-
of recycled PET fibres as concrete reinforcement materials appar- fine POFA in different amounts (0%, 20% and 40% by vol. of OPC) on
ently achieves excellent performance in terms of tensile, crack the engineering and transport properties of ultra-high performance
resistance and ductility [8,9]. Green concrete (UHPGC). Moreover, the study aimed to further
The increasing PET content in the form of fibre or aggregate lower in the consumption of cement which is related to reduce
with a volume of more than 10% as a replacement material reduces the construction costs and declining the passive impacts of solid
the concrete strength, which was reported in many previous stud- and plastic wastes on the environment. Hence, this research is
ies [10–13]. Batayneh et al. [14] concluded that plastic waste con- expected to be a key for future research on improving the concrete
tent as partial replacement at 20% level with sand in concrete ductility with low cost and light weight fiberized concrete.
reduces the compressive strength by up to 70% compared with
the use of normal concrete. Other investigations have reported that 1.1. Research significance
utilising PET fibre and aggregate as a partial replacement or an
additional material with low volume improves concrete strength A key aspect in the production of sustainable concrete is the use
and durability properties [15–19]. Han et al. [20] denoted that of discarded waste materials which are characterised by low-cost
the addition of plastic fibres with volume of 0.05% and 0.10% to production, good performance and low impact on the environment
concrete slightly increased the compressive strength by 1–3% com- and human life. In this regard, recycling agro-wastes, such as POFA,
pared to the control mix. Song et al. [21] also found that the and incorporating them into concrete have become common. How-
polypropylene plastic fibre content of 0.6 kg/m3 improved the con- ever, the use of such materials in concrete may affect its mechan-
crete strength by 5.8%. Furthermore, Al-Hadithi et al. [15] reported ical properties, and therefore, fibres should be added to modify
that the addition of shredded PET fibre within the range of 0.25%– these properties. The production of plastic waste concrete is popu-
2% increases the compressive strength of self-compacting concrete lar at present. The inclusion of PET fibre in concrete may reduce its
for all mixes in comparison to that of the control mix at the ages of durability performance. Other types of fibre reinforcement in con-
7, 14 and 28 days. The maximum increment in the compressive crete that contains POFA, such as steel fibres, affect its durability
strength was 43.4% for 1.5 PET volume content at the age of but they enhance its ductility. Therefore, this study aims to utilize
28 days relative to that of the control mix. available waste fibres (plastic PET fibres), in combination with
Recent experiments have also reported the effects of PET inclu- green concrete produced from POFA to present a novel type of con-
sion on concrete durability properties (i.e. porosity, permeability, crete with modified durability performance and compressive
water absorption and chloride penetration). For instance, Won strength.
 A.H. Alani et al. / Construction and Building Materials 209 (2019) 395–405 397

2. Materials Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) control mix

(U0-UHPC) was formulated based on the absolute volume method
The materials used in this study to produce ultrahigh-performance PET green
according to ACI 211 [33]. It has a cement content of 1080 kg/m3, a
concrete (UHPPGC) are described in the following subsection. It also provides a
detailed explanation of the treatment processes undertaken to obtain UPOFA and w/b of 0.17 and an SP dosage of 5.1% by binder mass. UPOFA was
prepare PET fibre. used as a partial replacement from the total volume of cement bin-
der with percentages of 20% and 40% to produce U20-ultra-high
2.1. Material used for concrete performance green concrete (UHPGC) and U40-UHPGC. Moreover,
PET fibres were added at a percentage of 1% of the total mix volume
Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) with specific gravity of 3.15 kg/m3 and specific to produce U0-UHPPGC, U20-UHPPGC and U40-UHPPGC mixes. All
surface area of 0.379 m2/g was selected as the main binder [Type 1, 42.5R]; it com-
the mixtures were performed using a pan-type mixer. The aim of
plies with the requirements of ASTM C150 [32]. Ultrafine POFA with an average par-
ticle size of approximately 2.11 mm, with specific surface area of 1.783 m2/g and a this research was to produce an ultra-high strength concrete with
specific gravity of 2.61 kg/m3, was used as a supplementary binary binder with a compressive strength higher than 130 MPa at the age of 28 days.
the two replacement levels (20% and 40%) from the total cement mass in order to The workability of fresh concrete, compressive strength and trans-
produce green concrete. Natural river sand was utilized as fine aggregate with par- port properties after 28 days were evaluated. The mix proportions
ticle size that ranged from 100 mm to 1180 mm, a specific gravity of 2.7 and water
absorption of 0.78%. The river sand was cleaned and washed carefully to remove
of UHPC, UHPGC and UHPPGC used in this study are provided in
organic materials and clay and then it was placed in a laboratory oven to dry before Table 2.
use. A polycarboxylate ether-based superplasticiser (SP) was used to achieve high The mixing and curing processes were conducted by adopting
workability at low w/b ratio. Tap water was used for all concrete mixes prepared the procedures presented in [30,33]. The dry components of OPC,
in this study. A rectangular waste plastic made from polyethylene terephthalate
UPOFA, fine sand and 50% PET fibre were initially mixed for at least
(PET) with an average length of 40 mm, width of approximately 3.5 mm, thickness
of 0.3 mm, specific gravity of 1.34 and water absorption of 0.18% was used as fibre 5 min. Then, the remaining 50% of PET fibre was added and mixed
reinforcement in this research. The chemical compositions of the binder materials for at least 3 min before adding water to achieve a uniform distri-
are presented in Table 1. bution. Water, which included 50% of the total SP, was added and
mixed for 2 min. Subsequently, the remaining 50% of SP was added
2.2. POFA treatment and PET fibre preparation to the batch ingredients, with continuous mixing for another
5 min. After that, the mixing process was continued until the batch
POFA was obtained from a nearby palm oil mill located in Nibong Tebal, Penang,
composition was transformed from a wet state to a thick paste
Malaysia. The POFA treatment process was summarised in a previous study [28].
The first step focused on drying the original POFA in an electric oven at state.
105 ± 5 °C for 24 h to remove moisture and to facilitate the sieving process. Sec-
ondly, the dried POFA was sifted through a 300 lm sieve to remove coarse particles,
kernel shells and fibres that were incompletely burnt during combustion in the 3.1. Casting, sample preparation and curing method
palm oil mill. The material obtained in this step was called POFA. Thirdly, the sieved
POFA was ground using a ball mill for 10 h to reduce particle size and increase sur- The concrete samples were arranged in different sizes based on
face area, thereby improving the POFA pozzolanic reactivity. The POFA was con-
test requirements. In this research, three samples were prepared
verted by grinding to obtain ground POFA (G-POFA). Fourthly, the G-POFA was
treated by burning in a gas furnace at 500 ± 50 °C for 90 min to remove unburned
for each age of 3, 7, 14 and 28 days. Standard cubes with
carbon, which exerts a passive effect on pozzolanic properties. Thus, the G-POFA 100 mm sides, standard cylinders with 100 mm diameter and
was converted into treated POFA (T-POFA). After burning, the colour of the POFA 200 mm height and prisms with 100 mm width  100 mm
changed from black to greyish as a result of carbon removal. Finally, the T-POFA depth  500 mm height were prepared. All the concrete mixtures
was reground using the same ball mill for 4 h to produce ultrafine palm oil fuel
were conducted using a pan-type mixer. Samples were moulded
ash UPOFA. Figs. 2 and 3 illustrate the POFA treatment processes and conversion
steps, respectively. in three layers, and each layer was compacted using a vibrating
PET fibres as shown in Fig. 4, were produced from shredded plastic beverage table. Afterwards, the samples were kept in a humid environment
bottles by using a simple shredded machine. for 24 h before demoulding. The samples were subjected to steam
curing at 90 °C for 48 h to accelerate the hydration process of con-
3. Mix proportions and casting procedures crete. The specimens were cured in water at room temperature
(27 ± 2 °C) until the tests requirement. Fig. 5 summarises the steam
The mix proportions were prepared based on the recommenda- curing process performed in this study.
tions given in a previous study [32]. Regarding this, numerous con-
crete trial mixes were cast with different calculations according to 3.2. Test procedures
varying percentages of concrete compositions, particularly SP and
w/b ratio, in order to achieve the high strength with desired 3.2.1. Flow table and T500 slump flow time test
workability. The flow characteristics of each mix were determined through a
simple flow table test according to ASTM C1437 [34]. A mini steel
cone was filled with the fresh concrete batch and lifted carefully on
Table 1
Chemical composition of binders OPC and UPOFA. the flow table. The flow table was promptly dropped 25 times in
15 s. When the concrete reached a steady state, the average diam-
Composition OPC UPOFA
eter was determined as the average diameter of fresh concrete at
SiO2 20.55 64.81 three random locations.
Al2O3 5.63 5.66
The T500 slump flow time test was conducted based on ASTM
Fe2O3 3.8 4.73
CaO 65.88 8.24 C1611 [35]. This test is typically used to evaluate the viscosity of
MgO 0.86 4.63 self-consolidating concrete [15]. The T500 is characterised by the
P2O5 0.074 4.71 elapsed time for spreading fresh concrete after lifting the slump
K2O 1.03 6.37 cone until a circle diameter of 500 mm is reached, which marks
SO3 3.76 0.36
TiO2 0.19 0.26
the testing steel base plate under flow condition. The direct viscos-
MnO 0.17 0.12 ity of fresh concrete cannot be obtained via the T500 test. There-
Na2O 0.091 0.063 fore, the results achieved by T500 refer to the flowability rate,
C – 0.092 which is related to viscosity. A high value of T500 indicates consid-
LOI 2.51 2.55
erable viscosity.
398 A.H. Alani et al. / Construction and Building Materials 209 (2019) 395–405

Fig. 2. POFA laboratory treatment processes.

POFA GPOFA UPOFA

Fig. 3. POFA transformation steps to UPOFA.

Fig. 4. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibres.

3.2.2. Compressive strength test imum load capacity of three cube specimens was recorded,
The compressive strength of the cubic samples was mea- and the compressive strength was calculated. The test was
sured using a 3000 kN capacity concrete compression conducted on 100 mm concrete cubes at ages 1, 3, 7 and
machine according to BSI EN 12390-3 [36]. The average max- 28 days.
 A.H. Alani et al. / Construction and Building Materials 209 (2019) 395–405 399

Table 2
Concrete mixes proportions.

Components (kg/m3) U0-UHPC U20-UHPGC U40-UHPGC U0-UHPPC U20-UHPPGC U40-UHPPGC

OPC 1080 863 648 1080 863 648
UPOFA 0 176 352 0 176 352
River sand (1.18–0.6)mm 760 760 760 760 760 760
River sand (0.6–0.3)mm 380 380 380 380 380 380
Water 184 184 184 184 184 184
Superplasticizer 54 54 54 54 54 54
PET fiber 0 0 0 13.2 13.2 13.2

3.2.5. Water permeability test

A water permeability test was performed on a similar perme-
ability cell used in the gas permeability assessment. Specimens
of cylindrical concrete cores with a diameter of 55 mm and a thick-
ness of 40 mm were used in the permeability cell. The test proce-
dures required water penetrating from the top surface and flowing
across the sample under an applied pressure head of 5 bars. The
water permeability coefficient (Kw) was calculated using the fol-
lowing equation [41]:

d v
2
Kw ¼ ð3Þ
2Th
where d is the depth of water penetration (m), T is the time of pen-
Fig. 5. Steam curing process [30].
etration (s), h is the applied pressure (m) and m is the total porosity
(in fraction). Porosity (v) was calculated using the following
equation:
3.2.3. Porosity and initial surface absorption test (ISAT) m
The tests were performed to determine the effect of the combi- v¼ ð4Þ
AdP
nation of UPOFA and PET fibre on the porosity and initial surface
absorption (ISA) of UHPGC and UHPPGC. The porosity test was per- where m is the gain in mass (kg), A is the cross-sectional area of the
formed using a vacuum saturation method developed by RILEM CP specimen (m2) and p is the density of water (1000 kg/m3).
113 [37] on a concrete core with 55 mm diameter  40 mm thick-
ness. ISAT was performed on a 100 mm concrete cube according to 3.2.6. Rapid chloride permeability test (RCPT)
BS 1881: Part 103 specifications in [38]. Porosity (P) was calculated RCPT was performed based on the procedures provided in ASTM
using the following equation [28,29]: C1202 [42]. The purpose of this test was to monitor the amount of
electrical current passing through cylindrical concrete slice sam-
 
W2  W4 ples with a diameter of 100 mm and a thickness of 50 mm. Sodium
Pð%Þ ¼  100 ð1Þ hydroxide (NaOH) solution with 0.30 N (reagent grade) filled the
W2  W3
positive reservoir of the cell, whereas 3.0% sodium chloride (NaCl)
solution filled the negative reservoir. A lineal DC current of 60 V
where W2 is the mass of the sample under saturated and surface dry
conditions in air, W3 is the mass of the sample in water and W4 is was applied through the sample for 6 h, and the total charge
passed (TCP) in coulombs was recorded to evaluate the sample
the mass of the oven-dried sample.
resistance to chloride ion penetration in the concrete.

3.2.4. Gas permeability test 4. Results and dissection

In this investigation, a gas permeability test was performed
using an apparatus similar to that developed by Cabrera and Lyns- 4.1. Slump flow and T500 slump flow time tests
dale (1988) [39]. Core cylindrical concrete specimens with 55 mm
diameter and 40 mm thickness were used to quantify gas perme- The rheology of each fresh UHPC, UHPGC and UHPPGC mixes
ability. The samples were placed in a permeability cell for 10 min was measured via a simple flow table test prior to casting. The
under a gas pressure of 5 bars to achieve a steady state. A suitable results of slump flow test are presented in Table 3. The test indi-
bubble flow meter was used to measure the time of gas flow in the cated that inclusion of UPOFA in U20-UHPGC and U40-UHPGC
concrete specimens. The gas permeability coefficient was deter- improved the UHPGC workability, which was recorded at
mined using the modified Darcy’s equation, Eq. (2), which was rec- 210 mm and 225 mm, respectively. Thus, the workability increased
ommended by Grube and Lawrence [40]: with the increase in the percentage of UPOFA replacement com-
pared with that of 195 mm for the UHPC control mix. This phe-
2lPout QL nomenon can be attributed to the high effectiveness of
K¼   ð2Þ superplasticizer dosage relative to the weight of cement in con-
A P2in  P2out
crete mix. UPOFA, as a binary binder with low specific gravity,
increased the binder paste volume, which consequently improved
where K is the intrinsic permeability (m2), m is the gas viscosity the capability to fill in the gap between aggregate particles in the
(Ns/m2), Q is the volume flow rate (m3/s), L is the sample thickness concrete batch [29]. In contrast, the inclusion of PET fibre reduced
(m), Pin is the inlet pressure (bar), A is the cross-sectional area of the the concrete workability. The results in Table 3 show a lower
sample (m2) and Pout = 1 bar is the outlet pressure. concrete flow with values of 170, 175 and 190 for U0-UHPC,
400 A.H. Alani et al. / Construction and Building Materials 209 (2019) 395–405

Table 3
Influence of UPOFA and PET fibre on workability and viscosity of UHSC.

Concrete U0-UHPC U20-UHPGC U40-UHPGC U0-UHPPC U20-UHPPGC U40-UHPPGC

Mix
Slump flow 195 210 225 170 175 190
Mm
T500 9 10.4 12.2 10.5 11 13.7
Second

U20-UHPPGC and U40-UHPPGC, respectively, compared to that of

the UHPC control mix. This reduction in workability can be attrib-
uted to the effect of fibres that crisscrossed together and formed
clusters at the centre of the flow spread, which eventually ham-
pered the capability of concrete to flow, as shown in Fig. 6(b and
c). This results are agreements with previous studies that denoted
that the PET plastic fibres inclusion reduce the green concrete
workability due to the resistance offered by the fibres to slow
the movement of concrete compositions during slump test [43,44].
The results of each mix viscosity related to the slump flow time
test (T500) per second are presented in Table 3. Thus, UPOFA inclu-
sion as a binary binder with cement in the U20-UHSGC and
U40-UHSGC mixes apparently increased the UHSC viscosity when
recorded at 10.4 s, and 12.2 s, respectively, compared to the
obtained 9 s. For the UHPC control mix, this increase in the UHSGC Fig. 7. Effect of combined UPOFA and PET fibres on compressive strength of UHPC.
viscosity can be related to the UPOFA content, with greater surface
area particles than those of OPC, which increased the paste volume
among the concrete particles [45,46]. the age of 28 days. The results demonstrated that the compressive
In addition, the PET fibre content increased the flow time T500 strength of Ux-UHPGC declined as the percentage of UPOFA
for U0-UHPPC, U20-UHPPGC and U40-UHPPGC compared with that replacement increased.
for the U0-UHPC control mix. Many papers have reported that add- Fig. 8 presents the strength of Ux-UHPGC and Ux-UHPPGC rela-
ing PET fibres reduces flowability because the PET fibre content in tive to the U0-UHPC control mix. The relative strength of non-
concrete mix decreases cement paste layer thickness, thereby cir- fiberized U20-UHPGC increased to 103.65%, 104.42%, 104.29% and
cling aggregate particles. Moreover, inclusion of the PET fibre 104.49% of the U0-UHPC mix at the ages of 3, 7, 14 and 28 days,
increases friction between aggregates and/or between aggregates respectively, compared to that of the reference mix. The increased
and fibres, along with cross-link between aggregates and fibres in UPOFA content to 40% in U40-UHPGC reduced the relative
[15,19,47]. strength to 97.59% at age of 3 days, whereas the relative strength
slightly increased to 100.72%, 101.84% and 101.52% compared with
U0-UHPC mix at the ages of 7, 14 and 28 days, respectively. Thus,
4.2. Compressive strength the compressive strength of UHPC reduced with the UPOFA
replacement volume increased. This reduction is similar to the
Fig. 7 presents the results of the compressive strengths of the findings in previous studies on the effect of UPOFA on the compres-
UHPC, UHPGC and UHPPGC mixtures. For green non-fiberized con- sive strength of concrete at early ages. According to these studies, it
crete of Ux-UHPGC, the content of UPOFA as a binary binder was concluded that adding of UPOFA beyond the optimum content
exerted substantial effects on the strength development character- causes a deterioration in the structural chains within the primary
istics of the Ux-UHPGC mixes in comparison to that of the UHPC or secondary calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H), which are formed
control mix. The lowest compressive strength (117.5 MPa) was according to the attachment of redundant (Si) from the supple-
recorded by U40-UHPGC at the age of 3 days, whereas the highest mentary UPOFA replaced [29,48–51]. Furthermore, as the age of
compressive strength (142.3 MPa) was realised by U20-UHPGC at water curing increased, the compressive strength of Ux-UHPGC

Fig. 6. Flow slump test (a) Device (b) U0-UHPC (c) U20-UHPPGC.
 A.H. Alani et al. / Construction and Building Materials 209 (2019) 395–405 401

4.3. Porosity and ISAT

The test results of the porosity for all concrete mixes are pre-
sented in Fig. 10. The lower porosity values were recorded in
non-fiberized and fiberized green concrete of Ux-UHPGC and Ux-
UHPPGC at the age of 28 days compared with that of UHPC. For
non-fiberized green concrete Ux-UHPGC, the porosity% reduced
with UPOFA inclusion and the porosity decreased with the increase
in the UPOFA content. At 3 days, the registered porosity is 3.6%,
3.1% and 2.3%for U0-UHPC, U20-UHPGC and U40-UHPGC respec-
tively. The porosity decreased to 31%, 2.8% and 1.9% at 7 days;
and at 14 days to 2.8%, 2.5% and 1.5%; and subsequently, decreased
to 2.56%, 2.1% and 1.4% at the age of 28 days, for U0-UHPC, U20-
UHPGC and U40-UHPGC, respectively. Hence, the greater of UPOFA
Fig. 8. Effect of PET fibres on strength of UHPC and Ux-UHPGC (UHPC as reference). content recorded the larger porosity reduction with the longer per-
iod of water curing. This reduction in porosity of U20-UHPGC and
also increased. This improvement in the compressive strength of U40-UHPGC green concrete can be attributed to the high pozzolanic
Ux-UHPGC can be ascribed to the extremely fine particles inclusion reactivity of UPOFA during concrete hydration to produce C-H-S
of UPOFA, which filled the voids between concrete compositions, gel, which improves the paste capability between concrete ingredi-
cement and fine aggregates, thereby improving the packing effect ents. Furthermore, the physical effect of UPOFA as a filler on the
in the microstructural matrices [29,52]. The heightening in SiO2 microstructure pore zone of concrete was observed [28,29,53].
inclusion from UPOFA reacted with the Ca(OH)2 created during For Ultra-High Performance PET reinforcing concrete (U0-
the hydration process of cement to produce secondary C-S-H, UHPPC), the porosity increased compared with that of U0-UHPC
which packed aggregates, improved the microstructural density control mix at the ages of 3, 7 and 14 days. Such increase in poros-
and enhanced the compressive strength [52–54]. ity can be attributed to the weak bonding between concrete com-
In the case of PET fibres used to reinforce U0-UHPC and Ux- ponents and PET fibres, which negatively affects the concrete
UHPGC, the results showed a slight reduction in the compressive porosity. Whereas, at the age of 28 days, the porosity value gradu-
strength at all ages of the U0-UHPPGC mixes but enhanced the ally decreased with the increase in the concrete particle bonding
compressive strength of U20-UHPPGC and U40-UHPPGC compared with PET fibre reinforcement [6,60].
with that of the UHPC control mix, as presented in Fig. 8. The com- In case of the green fiberized concrete Ux-UHPPGC, the combi-
pressive strength of U0-UHPPC decreased to 95.51%, 98.55%, 98.24% nation of UPOFA and PET fibre exhibited lower porosity values
and 99.06% at the ages of 3, 7, 14 and 28 days relative to that of the compared with that of the U0-UHPC control mix. The U20-
UHPC control mix. This reduction in the concrete strength has been UHPPGC porosity values were recorded at 3.3%, 2.7%, 2.4% and
interpreted by several authors; they attributed that to the weak 1.9% at the ages of 3, 7, 14 and 28 days, respectively. For U40-
cohesion between concrete components and PET particles, and UHPPGC, porosity was 2.5%, 2%, 1.7% and 1.1% at the ages of 3, 7,
the effect of PET particles as partitions on the concrete mix, which and 14 and 28 days, respectively. Thus, the lowest porosity values
prevents the cement paste from bonding completely with natural obtained in the PET fibre green concrete in this study were from
aggregates [7,55,56]. Moreover, Saikia and Brito (2014) attributed U40-UHPPGC at the age of 28 days. This reduction in Ux-UHPPGC
the loss in strength to the loss of interaction between PET shredded was attributed to the hydrophobic characteristic of the PET fibres.
particles and cement, which results into weakening the interfacial The improvement in bonding between PET fibre and concrete par-
transition zone [21]. ticles according to the high pozzolanic inclusion provided by
The results in Fig. 7 showed that the combination of binary bin- UPOFA content increased the amount of C-S-H gel, which enhanced
ders OPC and UPOFA with recycled PET fibres in U20-UHPPGC and the paste matrix, and consequently, concrete microstructure
U40-UHPPGC improved the compressive strength of UHPC at all [29,56,61].
ages. In addition, Fig. 7 indicates that the development in the com- However, the reduction in porosity for all concrete mixes at
pressive strength of U20-UHPPGC was recorded at 101.99%, 28 days for U0-UHPPC, U20-UHPGC, U40-UHPGC, U20-UHPPGC and
104.18%, 105.28% and 105.79% relative to that of the UHPC control U40-UHPPGC was 18%, 45%, 10%, 26% and 57%, respectively, relative
mix at the ages of 3, 7, 14 and 28 days. Similarly, U40-UHPPGC to that for the U0-UHPC control mix.
increased in strength by 100.91%, 102.81%, 102.99% and 102.1% rel- For the initial surface absorption test (ISAT), it was performed at
ative to the UHPC control mix at the ages of 3, 7, 14 and 28 days. the ages of 3, 7, 14 and 28 days at durations of 10, 30, 60 and
This increment in strength of the fibrous green concrete U20- 120 min. Fig. 11 shows that the greater reduction in ISA was
UHPPGC and U40-UHPPGC can be related to the development in achieved in Ux-UHPPGC green PET fiberized concrete mixes than
bonding, which was formed between the PET fibres and pozzolanic the U0-UHPC control mix. For the non-fiberized concrete U20-
from UPOFA. Moreover, the cement hydration products covered UHPGC mix, the ISA values declined to 13.50%, 4.55%, 23.14% and
the surface of the PET fibres by C-S-H gel, which is considered as 28.07% at intervals of 10, 30, 60 and 120 min, respectively, at the
the major binding phase of OPC-based materials. Accordingly, the age of 28 days compared with that of the U0-UHPC control mix.
UPOFA inclusion increased the volume of hydration products and In addition, the increase in the UPOFA content for U40-UHPGC
consolidates the contact phase between C-S-H gels and the PET reduced ISA values to37.42%, 28.03%, 40.50% and 53.51% compared
fibres which eventually increased the strengthening and crack with that of the control mix. Thus, the ISAT values decreased as the
resistance effect in green fibrous concrete [57–59]. Thus, as pre- level of UPOFA replacement increased with the longer curing per-
sented in failure modes in Fig. 9, the PET fibres in the proximity iod. This result is consistent with the findings of previous studies
area of the micro-cracks attempt to prohibit crack propagation [29,62]. They attributed such result to the fineness of UPOFA parti-
and prevent further cracking. The cracks that appeared in the spec- cles, which improved the microstructure matrix and prevented
imen structure had to take a tortuosity path and demand for an fluid penetration. The significant reduction in the ISA of non-
additional energy for future propagation grows, and consequently, fiberized green concrete of the Ux-UHPGC mix was also ascribed
the ultimate load also increases [15,24]. to its high Si content, which probably produced C-S-H that cross-
402 A.H. Alani et al. / Construction and Building Materials 209 (2019) 395–405

Fig. 9. Failure modes of concrete specimens (a) UHPC (b) U40-UHPPGC.

120 min, respectively, relative to that of the UHPC control mix.

Moreover, for the U40-UHPPGC, it registered ISA of 39.88%,
31.82%, 42.15% and 59.65% at intervals of 10, 30, 60 and 120 min,
respectively, relative to that of the control mix at age of 28 days.
Thus, grouping of the UPOFA and PET fibres exhibited a substantial
reduction in the ISA values, which is due to the role of UPOFA
inclusion which increasing the pozzolanic content in the concrete
mix and producing an additional C-S-H, thereby improve the bond-
ing between PET fibres and concrete compositions, by this means,
reduce the micro-crack generation within the concrete matrix
[24,28]. This result is in agreement with the finding in the scanning
electron microscope (SEM) micrographs Fig. 12, which indicate a
good bonding between the PET fibres and concrete compositions.

4.4. Gas permeability

The results of this study indicated that the blending of UPOFA

Fig. 10. Influence of addition of PET fibre on porosity% of UHPC and Ux-UHPGC. and PET fibres reduced the gas permeability of UHPC. The results
of the test presented zero and trivial values, which can be disre-
garded for all fiberized and non-fiberized green concrete;
Ux-UHPGC and Ux-UHPPGC mixes at all testing ages. These results
can be correlated to the fine particles of materials utilized in
Ux-UHPGC and Ux-UHPPGC production; low w/b ratio, which
improved the interface matrix of concrete [48,30]. Moreover, the
presence of UPOFA as a pozzolanic material with fineness particles
could effects in two phases: by pozzolanic reaction which
improves the paste instance in concrete mix, and physically as fil-
ler between concrete components and decrease the volume of
micro-voids within the concrete microstructure matrix. 1n addi-
tion, the PET fibre content in the Ux-UHPPGC restricted the devel-
opment of micro-cracks in the concrete mix by forming bridges
across cracks [24]. This extremely low and zero values of the gas
permeability coefficient recorded are compatible with the finding
in previous studies [29,48,63].

4.5. Water permeability

Fig. 11. Influence of addition of PET fibres on initial surface absorption of UHPC and
Similar to the result in gas permeability, UPOFA and PET fibre
Ux-UHPGC with different time at 28 days.
content improved the UHPC water permeability for all concrete
mixtures at all ages of the curing period. The water permeability
coefficient ranged from 3.2  1013 m/s to 7.3  1013 m/s. The
linked, thereby improving the filling of the pores compared with blending of UPOFA and PET fibres reduced the water permeability
that of the control mix. coefficients of Ux-UHPPGC compared to that of the U0-UHPC con-
A similar trend was observed when the PET fibre was combined trol mix. The results showed that the water permeability coeffi-
with UPOFA, resulted an increased in the rate of reduction in ISA cient decreased with as the UPOFA inclusion increased. The
values compare with Ux-UHPGC and control mix. The results water permeability results achieved in current study are presented
showed a considerable reduction in the ISA values of Ux-UHPPGC in Fig. 13.
and at the age of 28 days. For U20-UHPPGC, the ISA recorded For non-fiberized green concrete U20-UHPGC and U40-UHPGC,
15.95%, 3.03%, 8.26% and 23.68% at intervals of 10, 30, 60 and the reduction in the water permeability values was related to the
 A.H. Alani et al. / Construction and Building Materials 209 (2019) 395–405 403

PET fiber

PET fiber

Fig. 12. SEM of PET fibre-reinforced Ux-UHPPGC.

UPOFA inclusion and the age of the curing period. However, U20- ‘low’ to ‘negligible’, according to the chloride ion permeability rec-
UHPGC and U40-UHPGC reduced water permeability coefficient of ommended by ASTM C1202 [42]. For the green concrete U20-
22% and 38% as relative to the UHPC control mix, at the age of UHPGC and U40-UHPGC, the results indicated that the UPOFA con-
28 days, respectively. This is due to the hydration process of high tents substantially reduced the TCP amounts compared with that
pozzolanic content and fineness particles of UPOFA, which con- of the U0-UHPC concrete mix. The increase in the UPOFA content
tributes reducing the microstructure pores and filling in the voids from 20% to 40% recorded the low TCP values at all curing ages.
between aggregate particles [64]. At the age of 3 days, the recorded TCP values were 1672, 570 and
In the same trend of gas permeability and porosity, the PET fibre 88 C for UHPC, U20-UHPGC and U40-UHPGC, respectively. The TCP
content improved the water permeability of concrete U0-UHPPC, values were 1516, 417 and 74 C at the age of 7 days and 1420,
U20-UHPPGC and U40-UHPPGC at all ages in comparison to that 322 and 61 C at the age of 14 days for UHPC, U20-UHPGC and
of the control mix, as shown in Fig. 13. The low water penetration U40-UHPGC, respectively. At the age of 28 days, the TPC values
in the PET fiberized concrete can be ascribed to the high bonding were reduced to 1153, 264 and 47 C for UHPC, U20-UHPGC and
between the PET fibre reinforced and concrete ingredients as indi- U40-UHPGC, respectively. The lowest TCP values for non-fiberized
cated by the SEM micrograph test in Fig. 12. Moreover, the PET fiberized green concrete were achieved with the high UPOFA inclu-
fibres served as a bridge amongst the concrete compositions and sion, i.e. U40-UHPGC, at all ages of the curing periods. These values
reduced the generation of micro-cracks in the microstructures of were 95%, 95%, 96% and 96% at the ages of 3, 7, and 14 and 28 days,
concrete specimens, which prevents water penetration through respectively, relative to that of the U0-UHPC control mix. A consid-
concrete samples under an applied pressure during the process erable enhancement in the chloride resistance of UHPGC with 40%
of water permeability test [24,61]. of the UPOFA level was identified in previous studies, which con-
cluded that the capability of UPOFA with high pozzolanic priority
4.6. Rapid chloride permeability and extremely fine particles can reduce chloride penetration with
low w/b ratio [29,52,65].
The inclusion of the PET fibres exhibited a considerable reduc- Likewise, as shown in Fig. 14, the results demonstrated a
tion in the rapid chloride permeability of Ux-UHPGC. The results tremendous reduction in the chloride penetration of green PET
obtained from the test are presented in Fig. 14. The RCPT values
were within the range of 1672 C–38 C, which can be defined as

Fig. 13. Effect of addition of PET fibres on water permeability of UHPC and Fig. 14. Influence of addition of PET fibres on rapid chloride permeability of UHPC
Ux-UHPGC. and Ux-UHPGC.
404 A.H. Alani et al. / Construction and Building Materials 209 (2019) 395–405

fibre reinforcing concrete Ux-UHPPGC at all curing ages. A superior U40-UHPPGC mix and at a longer water curing period of 28 days.
reduction in TCP was recorded at the age of 28 days by 96% and These reductions were due to the UPOFA inclusion with high
97% for U20-UHPPGC and U40-UHPPGC, respectively, relative to that pozzolanic content, which could provide additional C-S-H gel,
of the UHPC control mix. Thus, the inclusion of the PET fibre and finally decreased the void values of concrete microstruc-
improves the chloride resistance of concrete. This significant ture; thereby improving bonding between PET fibre and con-
reduction in the TCP values can be ascribed to the effects of PET crete composition.
fibre reinforcement by reducing the capillary porosity. Moreover,
a decline in the inner conductivity of pores enhanced the This study highlighted the potential combination of PET fibre
microstructure of concrete [66,67]. Hence, based on the results of and UPOFA in producing a green sustainable concrete with supe-
chloride resistance achieved in the current study, the incorporation rior durability performance. Other properties, such as mechanical
of plastic PET fibres and UPOFA was capable of providing a network properties, toughness and thermal resistance may be considered
structure, which had a substantial effect on decreasing the chloride in future works.
permeability and cracks formation in the concrete. Therefore, the
presence of UPOFA and PET fibre can produce ultra-high perfor-
Conflict of interest
mance concrete with ‘very high’ resistance to chloride ion penetra-
tion at the age of 7 days and ‘extremely high’ resistance at the age
I don’t have any issue or conflict of Interest with any research-
of 28 days.
ers related with my paper and research.
From the overall, finding of the current study, the superior
reduction in transport properties (i.e., porosity, initial surface
absorption, gas and water permeability and chloride ion penetra- Acknowledgements
tion) of UHPC was realised with the UPOFA–PET fibres combination
in Ux-UHPPGC mixtures at the long curing period of 28 days. This The authors gratefully acknowledge granting Number (203.
reduction could be attributed to the UPOFA inclusion as a replace- PAWAM.6071365) Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS)
ment binder with cement may retards hydration reaction of OPC under Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), Malaysia.
compositions (C3S) and (C2S) at the early ages up to 7 days of cur-
ing period. Therefore, the delay of the creation of secondary C-S-H References
gel affects on the bonding between PET fibres and concrete compo-
nents [12,37]. Thus the increased UPOFA content and curing period [1] PlasticsEurope, Plastics-the Facts 2015. An Analysis of European Latest Plastics
Production, Demand and Waste Data, 2015.
may improve the bonding between concrete compositions and PET
[2] B. Liguori, F. Iucolano, I. Capasso, M. Lavorgna, L. Verdolotti, The effect of
fibres and enhance green fiberized transport properties at age up to recycled plastic aggregate on chemico-physical and functional properties of
28 days. Consequently, blending of the UPOFA and PET fibres could composite mortars, J. Mater. 57 (2014) 578–584.
[3] N. Singh, D. Hui, R. Singh, I.P.S. Ahuja, L. Feo, F. Fraternali, Recycling of plastic
enhance the durability performance of U-UHPPGC at long term of
solid waste: a state of art review and future applications, Compos. Part B 115
curing period. (2017) 409–422.
[4] J.P. Won, C. Il Jang, S.W. Lee, S.J. Lee, H.Y. Kim, Long-term performance of
recycled PET fibre-reinforced cement composites, Constr. Build. Mater. 24
5. Conclusions (2010) 660–665.
[5] R.V. Silva, J. De Brito, R.K. Dhir, Properties and composition of recycled
The production of a novel ultra-high performance concrete that aggregates from construction and demolition waste suitable for concrete
production, Constr. Build. Mater. 65 (2014) 201–217.
utilizes UPOFA at two different ratios (20% and 40%) by replace- [6] Y.W. Choi, D.J. Moon, Y.J. Kim, M. Lachemi, Characteristics of mortar and
ment of binder weight and PET fibres was considered in this study. concrete containing fine aggregate manufactured from recycled waste
The following conclusions were drawn based on the results polyethylene terephthalate bottles, Constr. Build. Mater. 23 (2009) 2829–2835.
[7] S. Akçaözoğlu, C.D. Atisß, K. Akçaözoğlu, An investigation on the use of shredded
obtained from the performed investigations.
waste PET bottles as aggregate in lightweight concrete, Waste Manage. 30
(2010) 285–290.
1. Fresh properties: The inclusion of UPOFA in UHPGC improved [8] F. Fraternali, V. Ciancia, R. Chechile, G. Rizzano, L. Feo, L. Incarnato,
workability when the measured slump increased considerably. Experimental study of the thermo-mechanical properties of recycled PET
fiber-reinforced concrete, Compos. Struct. 93 (2011) 2368–2374.
In addition to slump improvement, viscosity was enhanced [9] R.P. Borg, O. Baldacchino, L. Ferrara, Early age performance and mechanical
when the T500 slump flow time increased. In contrast, the characteristics of recycled PET fibre reinforced concrete, Constr. Build. Mater.
added of PET fibres to UHPC and UHPGC, reductions in slump 108 (2016) 29–47.
[10] Y. Choi, D. Moon, J. Chung, S. Cho, Effects of waste PET bottles aggregate on the
and viscosity were attained due to the negative effect of the properties of concrete, Cem. Concr. Res. 35 (2005) 776–781.
fibres on the concrete workability. [11] O.Y. Marzouk, R.M. Dheilly, M. Queneudec, Valorization of post-consumer
2. Compressive strength: Measurements of the compressive waste plastic in cementitious concrete composites, Waste Manage. 27 (2007)
310–318.
strength were conducted at different ages of 3, 7, 14 and [12] C. Albano, N. Camacho, M. Hernández, A. Matheus, A. Gutiérrez, Influence of
28 days with the aim of investigating the effect of blending content and particle size of waste pet bottles on concrete behavior at different
UPOFA and PET fibre on the early age strength of UHPC. The w/c ratios, Waste Manage. 29 (2009) 2707–2716.
[13] A. Remadnia, R.M. Dheilly, B. Laidoudi, M. Quéneudec, Use of animal proteins
results indicated that addition of PET fibres caused a slight as foaming agent in cementitious concrete composites manufactured with
decline in the early age compressive strength of UHPC at the recycled PET aggregates, Constr. Build. Mater. 23 (2009) 3118–3123.
ages of 3 and 7 days, but the strength started to develop after [14] M. Batayneh, I. Marie, I. Asi, Use of selected waste materials in concrete mixes,
Waste Manage. 27 (2007) 1870–1876.
14 days. However, addition of the PET fibres to green concrete
[15] A.I. Al-Hadithi, N.N. Hilal, The possibility of enhancing some properties of self-
U20-UHPPGC and U40-UHPPGC increased the compressive compacting concrete by adding waste plastic fibers, J. Build. Eng. 8 (2016) 20–28.
strength at all ages of curing period compared to the UHPC con- [16] L.A. Pereira De Oliveira, J.P. Castro-Gomes, Physical and mechanical behaviour
trol mix. Thus, the combination of UPOFA and PET fibres of recycled PET fibre reinforced mortar, Constr. Build. Mater. 25 (2011) 1712–
1717.
improved the concrete strength. The U20-UHPPGC exhibited [17] K. Ramadevi, R. Manju, Experimental investigation on the properties of
the highest compressive strength of 144.1 MPa at 28 days. concrete with plastic PET (bottle) fibres as fine aggregates, J. Emerg. Technol.
3. In addition, grouping of the UPOFA–PET fibres recorded lower Adv. Eng. 2 (2012) 42–46.
[18] N. Saikia, J. De Brito, Mechanical properties and abrasion behaviour of concrete
porosity, initial surface absorption, gas permeability and water containing shredded PET bottle waste as a partial substitution of natural
permeability, rapid chloride permeability, in particular at aggregate, Constr. Build. Mater. 52 (2014) 236–244.
 A.H. Alani et al. / Construction and Building Materials 209 (2019) 395–405 405

[19] R.H.F. Pelisser, R.K.O. Montedo, J.P.P. Gleize, H. Roman, Mechanical properties [45] M. Safiuddin, M.A. Salam, M.Z. Jumaat, Flowing ability of self-consolidating
of recycled PET fibers in concrete, Mater. Res. 15 (4) (2012) 679–686. concrete and its binder paste phase including palm oil fuel ash, Mag. Concr.
[20] C.G. Han, Y.S. Hwang, S.H. Yang, N. Gowripalan, Performance of spalling Res. 64 (10) (2012) 931–944.
resistance of high performance concrete with polypropylene fiber contents [46] S. Kang, C. Siang, O. Yuan, Y. Ling, Fresh and hardened properties of lightweight
and lateral confinement, Cem. Concr. Res. 35 (2005) 1747–1753. foamed concrete with palm oil fuel ash as filler, Constr. Build. Mater. 46 (2013)
[21] P.S. Song, S. Hwang, B.C. Sheu, Strength properties of nylon- and 39–47.
polypropylene-fiber-reinforced concretes, Cem. Concr. Res. 35 (2005) 1546– [47] M. Nili, V. Afroughsabet, The effects of silica fume and polypropylene fibers on
1550. the impact resistance and mechanical properties of concrete, Constr. Build.
[22] K. Hannawi, S. Kamali-Bernard, W. Prince, Physical and mechanical properties Mater. 24 (2010) 927–933.
of mortars containing PET and PC waste aggregates, Waste Manage. 30 (2010) [48] A.M. Zeyad, M.A. Megat Johari, B.A. Tayeh, M.O. Yusuf, Efficiency of treated and
2312–2320. untreated palm oil fuel ash as a supplementary binder on engineering and
[23] O.Y. Marzouk, R.M. Dheilly, M. Queneudec, Valorization of post-consumer fluid transport properties of high-strength concrete, Constr. Build. Mater. 125
waste plastic in cementitious concrete composites, Waste Manage. 27 (2) (2016) 1066–1079.
(2007) 310–318. [49] M.W. Hussin, K. Muthusamy, M.E. Ismail, Performance of high strength POFA
[24] S. Kakooei, H. Akil, M. Jamshidi, J. Rouhi, The effects of polypropylene fibers on concrete in acidic environment, Concr. Res. Lett. 1 (2012) 14–18.
the properties of reinforced concrete structures, Constr. Build. Mater. 27 [50] W. Tangchirapat, C. Jaturapitakkul, K. Kiattikomol, Compressive strength and
(2012) 73–77. expansion of blended cement mortar containing palm oil fuel ash, J. Mater. Civ.
[25] USDA, Global palm oil production by country, United State Department of Eng. 21 (2009) 426–431.
Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service, 2016. www.usda.gov/wps/portal/ [51] V. Sata, C. Jaturapitakkul, C. Rattanashotinunt, Compressive strength and heat
usda/usdahome. evolution of concretes containing palm oil fuel ash, J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 22
[26] A.S.M. Awal, M.W. Hussin, The effectiveness of palm oil fuel ash in preventing (2010) 1033–1038.
expansion due to alkali-silica reaction, Cem. Concr. Compos. 19 (1997) 367– [52] A.M. Zeyad, M.A. Megat Johari, B.A. Tayeh, M.O. Yusuf, Pozzolanic reactivity of
372. ultra fi ne palm oil fuel ash waste on strength and durability performances of
[27] J.H. Tay, Ash from oil-palm waste as concrete material, J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 2 high strength concrete, J. Cleaner Prod. 144 (2017) 511–522.
(1990) 94–105. [53] C. Jaturapitakkul, J. Tangpagasit, S. Songmue, K. Kiattikomol, Filler effect and
[28] M.A. Megat Johari, A.M. Zeyad, N. Muhamad Bunnori, K.S. Ariffin, Engineering pozzolanic reaction of ground palm oil fuel ash, Constr. Build. Mater. 25 (2011)
and transport properties of high-strength green concrete containing high 4287–4293.
volume of ultrafine palm oil fuel ash, Constr. Build. Mater. 30 (2012) 281–288. [54] B. Alsubari, P. Shafigh, Z. Ibrahim, M. Fouad, M. Zamin, Properties of eco-
[29] A.N. Mohammed, M.A. Megat Johari, A.M. Zeyad, B.A. Tayeh, M.O. Yusuf, friendly self-compacting concrete containing modified treated palm oil fuel
Improving the engineering and fluid transport properties of ultra-high ash, Constr. Build. Mater. 158 (2018) 742–754.
strength concrete utilizing ultrafine palm oil fuel ash, J. Adv. Concr. Technol. [55] E. Rahmani, M. Dehestani, M.H.A. Beygi, H. Allahyari, I.M. Nikbin, On the
12 (2014). mechanical properties of concrete containing waste PET particles, Constr.
[30] B.A. Tayeh, B.H. Abu Bakar, M.A. Megat Johari, Y.L. Voo, Mechanical and Build. Mater. 47 (2013) 1302–1308.
permeability properties of the interface between normal concrete substrate [56] A.B. Fraj, M. Kismi, P. Mounanga, Valorization of coarse rigid polyurethane
and ultra high performance fiber concrete overlay, Constr. Build. Mater. 36 foam waste in lightweight aggregate concrete, Constr. Build. Mater. 24 (6)
(2012) 538–548. (2010) 1069–1077.
[31] M.A.A. Aldahdooh, N. Muhamad Bunnori, M.A. Megat Johari, Influence of palm [57] A.H. Beigi, Berenjian Morteza, Lotfi-Omran Javad, Sadeghi-Nik Omid, I.M.
oil fuel ash on ultimate flexural and uniaxial tensile strength of green ultra- Nikbin, An experimental survey on combined effects of fibers and nanosilica
high performance fiber reinforced cementitious composites, Mater. Des. 54 on the mechanical, rheological, and durability properties of selfcompacting
(2014) 694–701. concrete, Mater. Des. 50 (2013).
[32] ASTM C 150, Standard specification for Portland cement. Annual Book of ASTM [58] A. Sadrmomtazi, S. Dolati-Milehsara, O. Lotfi-Omran, A. Sadeghi-Nik, The
Standards 04.01; 2001. pp. 149–55, 2001. combined effects of waste Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) particles and
[33] M.A.A. Aldahdooh, N. Muhamad Bunnori, M.A. Megat Johari, Development of pozzolanic materials on the properties of self- compacting concrete, J. Cleaner
green ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete containing ultrafine Prod. 112 (2016) 2363–2373.
palm oil fuel ash, Constr. Build. Mater. 48 (2013) 379–389. [59] A.S.M.A. Awal, H. Mohammadhosseini, Green concrete production
[34] ASTM C1437, Standard Test Method for Flow of Hydraulic Cement Mortar incorporating waste carpet fiber and palm oil fuel ash, J. Cleaner Prod. 137
Document Number: ASTM C1437-01, ASTM International, 2013. (2016) 157–166.
[35] ASTM C1611, Standard Test Method for Slump Flow of Self-Consolidating [60] Y.W. Choi, D.J. Moon, J.S. Chung, S.K. Cho, Effects of waste PET bottles aggregate
Concrete, ASTM Standards, 2006. on the properties of concrete, Cem. Concr. Res. 35 (2005) 776–781.
[36] British Standard Institution. BS EN 12390-3, Testing Hardened Concrete. [61] R. Wang, C. Meyer, Performance of cement mortar made with recycled high
Compressive Strength of Test Specimens, BSI, London, 2002. impact polystyrene, Cem. Concr. Compos. 34 (2012) 975–981.
[37] RILEM, CP113, Absorption of water by immersion under vacuum, Mater. [62] Y.L. Voo, S.J. Foster, Characteristics of ultra-high performance ‘‘ductile”
Struct. Res. Test 101 (1984) 393–394. concrete and its impact on sustainable construction, IES J. Part A Civ. Struct.
[38] British Standard Institution. BS 1881: 208, Recommendations for the Eng. 3 (2010) 168–187.
Determination of the Initial Surface Absorption of Concrete, BSI, London, 1996. [63] C.P. Vernet, Ultra-durable concretes: structure at the micro-and nanoscale,
[39] L.C. Cabrera, C.J. Lynsdale, A new gas permeameter for measuring the MRS Bull. 29 (05) (2004) 324–327.
permeability of mortar and concrete, Mag. Concr. Res. 144 (1988) 177–182. [64] W. Kroehong, T. Sinsiri, C. Jaturapitakkul, P. Chindaprasirt, Effect of palm oil
[40] H. Grube, C.D. Lawrence, Permeability of concrete to oxygen, in: Proceedings of fuel ash fineness on the microstructure of blended cement paste, Constr. Build.
the RILEM Seminar on The Durability of Concrete Structures under Normal Mater. 25 (2011) 4095–4104.
Outdoor Exposure, Institute fur Baustoffkunde und Material Prufung, [65] P. Chindaprasirt, S. Rukzon, V. Sirivivatnanon, Resistance to chloride
Hannover, 1984, pp. 68–79. penetration of blended Portland cement mortar containing palm oil fuel ash,
[41] O. Valanta, Durability of concrete-in Prague, Mater. Struct. 3 (1970) 333–345. rice husk ash and fly ash, Constr. Build. Mater. 22 (2008) 932–938.
[42] ASTM . Standard test method for electrical indication of concrete’s ability to [66] V. Afroughsabet, L. Biolzi, P.J. Monteiro, The effect of steel and polypropylene
resist chloride ion penetration. Annual book of ASTM standards, vol. 04. No. fibers on the chloride diffusivity and drying shrinkage of high-strength
02; 2004. pp. 649–654. concrete, Compos. Part B 139 (2018) 84–96.
[43] R. Sharma, P.P. Bansal, Use of different forms of waste plastic in concrete – a [67] A.A. Ramezanianpour, M. Esmaeili, S.A. Ghahari, M.H. Najafi, Laboratory study
review, J. Cleaner Prod. 112 (2016) 473–482. on the effect of polypropylene fiber on durability, and physical and mechanical
[44] A.C. Bhogayata, N.K. Arora, Fresh and strength properties of concrete characteristic of concrete for application in sleepers, Constr. Build. Mater. 44
reinforced with metalized plastic waste fibers, Constr. Build. Mater. 146 (2013) 411–418.
(2017) 455–463.