Axial Compressive Behavior of Bubble-Size Plastic Straw Waste FRP-Confined Circular Concrete

– One of the crucial problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is the increase in the number of disposable plastic wastes, especially bubble-size plastic straw waste. The use of recycled fiber as a material of fiber-reinforced polymer composites for concrete strengthening can be an alternative to recycling disposable plastic wastes, especially in Indonesia. The use of fiber-reinforced polymer made from woven bubble-size plastic straw waste fibers that are bonded with epoxy has been found out to be able to alternate the axial deformability and ultimate compressive strength of confined circular concrete. The axial stress-strain behavior shows a trilinear trend with two ascending parts and one descending part. Adding more FRP layers has also improved significantly the axial deformability and ultimate compressive strength. Based on test results from this study for bubble-size plastic straw waste fiber-reinforced polymer, new models are created to forecast both the ultimate compressive strength and the strain. The results of the experimental analysis have shown that four layers application of bubble-size plastic straw waste fiber-reinforced polymer confined circular concrete is effective enough to increase the strength of concrete up to 42.69 % of the initial strength of concrete.