Experimental investigation of the optimized use of plastic flakes in normal-weight concrete

. Tlili The potentially influential variables in normal-weight concrete incorporating recycled plastic flakes (recycled plastic content and width of recycled plastic particles) have been investigated. The addition of recyled plastics to concrete was found to help control the drying-shrink.age cracks. An experimental design was formulated and implemented in order to determine the optimum geometry and volume fraction of plastics for the control of restrained drying-shrinkage cracking of concrete. Follow-up experimental investigations were performed to evaluate the effect of the resulting optimum plastic content on some mechanical properties (flexural strength and toughness, compressive strength, and impact resistance) and long-term durability characteristics (permeability, freeze-thaw durability, scaling resistance, corrosion resistance and hot-water durability) of the concrete.