Experimental analysis of damage in short-fiber-reinforced composite waste polyethylene terephthalate as a pile foundation material

This study assessed the compressive and tensile strengths and modulus of elasticity of waste polyethylene terephthalate (PET) using the ASTM standard tests. In addition, short carbon and glass fibers were mixed with waste PET to examine the improvements in ductility and strength during compression. The bonding was examined via field-emission scanning electron microscopy. The strength degradation of the waste PET tested under UV was 40–50%. However, it had a compressive strength of 32.37 MPa (equivalent to that of concrete), tensile strength of 31.83 MPa (approximately ten times that of concrete), and a unit weight of 12–13 kN/m3 (approximately half that of concrete). A finite element analysis showed that, compared with concrete, a waste PET pile foundation can support approximately 1.3 times greater loads. Mixing reinforcing fibers with waste PET further mitigated this, thereby extending ductility. Waste PET holds excellent potential for use in foundation piles, especially while mitigating brittleness using short reinforcing fibers and avoiding UV degradation.