Effects of a Finely Ground Aggregate on the Behavior of Cement-Lime Mortars

In order to study the effects of finely ground aggregates on the various properties of portland cement-lime (PCL), mortars a research study was conducted. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the effects these materials had on the plastic and hardened properties of (PCL) mortars. Tests conducted on cement-lime mortars suggest that inclusion of finely ground aggregates mixed with the lime used in PCL mortars, produced some beneficial and no detrimental effects on the mortar properties. The air content of the mortars remained approximately the same over the range of replacement types and percentages evaluated, and the water retention values increased with increased percentages of finely ground aggregate materials. Furthermore, while the compressive strength of the mortars showed a slight decrease with increased fine materials at 7 days the compression strength at 28 days increased slightly. In addition, the flexural bond strength of the mortar showed a trend in increased flexural strength with additions of fine aggregate materials, although the high variation in the results showed a very low correlation factor.