Characterisation of early 20th century lime mortars from Mysore

Historical mortar samples from the Amba Vilas Palace and the Krishna Raja Sagara Dam, two structures in Mysore built in the early 20th century and prior to the extensive use of Portland cement, were evaluated for their mineralogical and mechanical characteristics. The samples were subjected to a wet chemical analysis, by dissolution in HCl to identify the oxides in the mortars. Further, the mortars were examined using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction to detail their current chemical composition and morphology. The samples were evaluated for compressive strength using the ultra-sonic pulse velocity technique. The results show that the mortar from the Mysore Palace is about three times stronger and twice as stiff as the mortar taken from the KRS Dam.