Experimental Study on Effective Utilization of Steel Bottle Caps Fiber for Reinforced Concrete

Abstract

Steel bottle caps (SBCs) are widely used materials in the world to preserve soft drinks and beers in glass bottle very well. But after the bottle is opened and the beverage is used these caps are disposed as waste materials inappropriately; which in return affects the surrounding environment adversely. In Ethiopia, mostly the cities surrounding are covered by these caps that are thrown away after used. This indicates that there is no proper way of disposing these solid wastes. If these wastes are not collected and disposed properly or reused again it will cause adverse effect on the environment. Using of SBCs in the concrete as fiber can reduce the adverse impacts of this material on the environment. Furthermore, the addition of steel bottle caps fiber (SBCF) in the concrete enhances the mechanical properties of concrete. This research was carried out at Jimma institute of Technology (JiT), Ethiopia, from April to end of September, 2019. The materials used for this experimental study were OPC cement, locally available sand and gravel, and SBCF, which are waste products collected from hotels, cafés and restaurants at Jimma town. By flattening SBCs and removing the plastic covers, the SBCs were cut in to seven parts to produce SBCF. These SBCF were added in to the concrete mix of C-25 grade in different percentage values such as 0%, 0.5%, 1% and 1.5% by total weight of concrete. By using the results obtained from laboratory, this research paper investigated and compared the effects of SBCF on the workability of concrete and mechanical properties of concrete, such as compressive strength, split tensile strength and flexural strength. Finally, this research paper concluded that addition of 1% SBCF is the optimum percentage value to increase the concrete strengths. Addition of this 1% SBCF increased the concrete compressive, tensile and flexural strength by 2.84%, 1.27% and 5.97% respectively as compared to the controlled concrete.