Statistical Distributions of the Strength and Fracture Toughness of Recycled Polyethylene-Reinforced Laterite Composites
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Date
2016
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Abstract
This paper presents the results of combined experimental and theoretical studies of the statistical distributions of the strength and fracture toughness of recycled polyethylene-reinforced laterite composites for potential applications in building materials. The composites are produced with different volume percentages (0–30% v/v) and particle sizes (∼300±0.02, ∼600 ± 0.03, ∼900 ± 0.03, ∼1,200±0.02, ∼1,500±0.04, and 1,800±0.03 μm) of powdered polyethylene (PE) in a laterite matrix. The composites with ∼900±0.03 μm and 20-volume percentage of PE are shown to have the best combination of flexural-compressive strengths and fracture toughness. The statistical variations in the flexural-compressive strengths and fracture toughness are well characterized by the Weibull distributions.