Paper Title
Impact of Surface Plasma Treatment on the Performance of PET Scattered Fiber Reinforcement
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to show the influence of plasma treated PET fibers used as scattered micro reinforcement
in cementitious composites and to compare it to non-treated fibers. Plasmatic treatment enhances surface roughness of PET
fibers and also activates polar groups resulting in the lowering of surface energy. These properties lead to better stress
transfer across cracks. Improved adhesion between primary (non-recycled) fibers and the surrounding matrix was examined
by four point flexural tests. Plasmatic treatment of recycled PET fibers resulted in a lower tensile capacity because of
reduced cross-section area of the fibers. The bridging force provided by plasma treated fibers led to the lowered abrupt
cracking behavior and limited crack openings of tested samples.
Keywords - Fiber Reinforcement, Plasma Treatment, PET Fiber, Cementitious Paste, Four Point Bending.