Construction and Building Materials 49 (2013) 384392

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

A comparative analysis of the properties of recycled and natural

aggregate in masonry mortars
Ivn Martnez a, Miren Etxeberria b,, Elier Pavn a, Nelson Daz a
a
Instituto Superior Politcnico Jos Antonio Echeverra, La Habana, Cuba
b
Universidad Politcnica de Catalua, Spain

h i g h l i g h t s

 Masonry mortar is one of the most produced and used building materials in Havana, Cuba.
 Different ne mixed recycled aggregates and llers were used for the masonry mortar production.
 Mortars were made using either 100% natural or recycled aggregates with all types of different llers.
 The physical, mechanical and durability properties were analyzed.
 The adequate behavior of the recycled aggregate mortar is validated.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Masonry mortar is one of the most manufactured and used building materials in Havana, Cuba. The lack
Received 14 May 2013 of natural sand and the great quantity of demolition waste that exists in the city makes one realize the
Received in revised form 5 August 2013 potential benets of the use of this abundant waste material to create recycled ne aggregates for their
Accepted 29 August 2013
use in the production of masonry mortars. In this research work three types of ne mixed aggregate were
Available online 20 September 2013
used. These aggregates, which were the result of the crushing of demolition waste proceeding from the
three typical types of buildings in Havana, were used as a substitute for 100% of the natural sand used in
Keywords:
the production of masonry mortar.
Recycled ne aggregates
Masonry mortars
Due to the lack of natural ne aggregates Cuban regulations allow for the use of llers in the manufac-
Water retentivity ture of masonry mortars, in order to correct this defect. Three different types of ller were evaluated for
Mechanical and durability properties masonry mortar production; lime hydrate (commonly used in Havana) white slag ller (a by-product of
steel manufacturing) and limestone ller (natural). The masonry mortars were made using either 100%
natural or recycled aggregates with any of type of ller, they were tested after a 28 days period of curing
in a humidity room and their physical, mechanical and durability properties were analyzed. The results
obtained from the tests proved that the masonry mortars manufactured with a combination of recycled
ne aggregates and any of the three types of ller mentioned not only complied with the requirements
established in the Cuban regulation, but in the majority of cases the properties obtained from these mor-
tars were better than those mortars made with natural aggregate.
2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction the exploitation of the existing quarries, thus conserving natural

The actual requirements of sustainability in construction pro-
mote the use of materials which cause a lower environmental im-
pact than those traditionally used [1]. The vast majority of the
mortars employed in Havana use natural aggregates in their pro-
duction. The manufacturing of mortars which replace natural
aggregates for those of recycled aggregates obtained from con-
struction and demolition waste is a sustainable alternative. An
alternative which can only be considered as benecial as it reduces
Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 934011788.
E-mail address: miren.etxeberria@upc.edu (M. Etxeberria).
resources as well as reducing transport costs and minimizing the
environmental impact resulting from the irregular dumping of
construction and demolition waste (CDW) [2].
Employing the data recorded by the National Statistics Ofce
(ONE) it is estimated that Havana generates about 1000 m3 of
CDW [3] daily. The majority of this CDW is tipped in communal
waste dumps, causing them to be contaminated by other materials
and consequently unt for use. This situation is principally due to
the lack of adequate technological infrastructures and policy de-
ciencies with respect to the management of these wastes.
In the absence of a selective demolition process the vast major-
ity of uncontaminated CDW generated in Havana can only be

0950-0618/$ - see front matter 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2013.08.049
 I. Martnez et al. / Construction and Building Materials 49 (2013) 384392 385

classied as a mixed type. This CDW contains materials of differing Table 1

natures (ceramic, concrete, mortar, lime, gypsum, etc.) which Chemical composition of cement.

emphasizes the need for the development of treatment applica- Elements Results (wt.%)
tions that will contribute to the sustainable development of the Fe2O3 2.74
city. MnO 0.05
Moreover, there is a steelmaking industry within the city TiO2 0.29
(Antillana steel) that generates high volumes of waste slag. At pres- CaO 61.11
K2O 0.79
ent there is a large volume of slag accumulated around that indus- P2O5 0.14
try and it is estimated that it generates in the region of 18,500 tons SiO2 21.34
of slag annually [4], which could possibly be used as recycled Al2O3 5.89
aggregates or ller. MgO 1.68
Na2O 0.50
Many of the natural aggregate quarries near to the city are
beginning to run out of material as a result of over exploitation.
The consequence of this lack of materials is signicant as the
new quarries that supply the capital are increasingly more distant
Table 2
thus resulting in an increase in transportation costs [5]. Properties of llers used in the study.
Masonry mortars, which employ a lot of ne aggregates, are one
Physical properties Lime Hydrate Limestone Filler Slag
of the most used building materials within Havana. These mortars
(LH) (LF) (WS)
are widely employed in a variety of construction uses, such as wall
Density (kg/dm3) 2.1 2.58 3.2
rendering or for brick and block laying. The performance level of
Compacted volumetric weight 0.57 1.50 1.42
these masonry mortars is not required to be very high, conse- (kg/dm3)
quently allowing for the possibility of producing them with lower Material ner than 75 lm (%) 88 32 63
grade recycled ne aggregates in order to reserve the higher qual- Material ner than 45 lm (%) 27 7 37
ity natural aggregates for the construction elements that require
them.
The use of recycled aggregates from CDW for mortar production
ity properties of the mortars containing recycled aggregates were
is not as widely studied as its use in concrete manufacture. Cori-
determined, and the results obtained were compared with the val-
naldesi [6] analyzed the use of recycled ne aggregates obtained
ues required by the Cuban regulations governing their use, the
from waste concrete and ceramic bricks to create mortars that
ASTM equivalent and the values obtained from conventional ma-
would be employed as a bonding material for masonry brickwork.
sonry mortars, which were produced with natural aggregates.
She subjected the mortar to compressive and exural load tests in
order to determine its compressive and bonding strength. The re-
sults of her research showed that although the mortar produced 2. Materials
from recycled aggregates had less compressive strength than that
produced with natural aggregates, its bonding strength and its 2.1. Cement
behavior under tensile stress was better.
Portland P-350 cement was used, having a density of 3.12 g/cm3, specic sur-
Furthermore, with respect to other investigations, Silva et al. [7] face of 3089 g/cm2 and a compressive strength of 35 MPa at 28 days. The cement
concluded that 10% of ceramic ne incorporation improved most of came from the Mariel plant, located in the province of Artemisa, adjacent to Havana.
the mortar properties. Braga et al. [8], increased the incorporation This plant is the leading supplier of cement in Havana. Table 1 shows the chemical
of very ne concrete recycled aggregates up to 15%, which resulted composition of the cement.

in the improvement of the majority of the properties of the refer-

ence mortar. The results obtained by Dapena et al. [9], showed that
the use of up to 20% of recycled aggregate caused a little drop in the
mechanical properties of the mortars. Vegas et al. [10] showed the
possibility to replace up to 25% of natural sand by recycled con-
crete aggregate without decreasing the main properties of the ma-
sonry mortar.
Jimnez et al. [11], dened that the density and workability of
mortars with a 40% replacement ratio of ne ceramic recycled
2.2. Fillers
Three different llers were used: lime hydrate (LH), limestone ller (LF) and
white slag (WL, waste from steel production). According to Cuban regulations lime
hydrate (LH) is the established ller to be employed in the production of masonry
mortars. The limestone ller (LF) was obtained by the grinding of limestone and the
white slag ller (WS) from the waste generated from the manufacturing of steel at a
local steel industry. The white slag (WS) was composed of 47% CaO, 27.5% SiO2, 9%
Al2O3 and 13% MgO. Table 2 shows the properties of the three llers used.

aggregate decreased with respect to those of natural aggregate

mortars, but the other properties such as compressive, tensile or
bond strength maintained a similar performance to that obtained
by the reference mortar.
Corinaldesi and Moriconi [12], produced mortars with 100%
recycled aggregates which achieved lower mechanical properties
than those obtained by conventional mortars. There was a notice-
able difference when the recycled aggregates were obtained from
ceramic bricks. However the mortars which were produced with
recycled aggregates achieved higher bonding strength than con-
ventional mortars.
In this research work the use of three types of recycled ne
aggregates in the producing of masonry mortars were studied.
Mortars were manufactured with 100% replacement of natural
aggregate for recycled ne aggregate, also using three types of ll-
ers available in Havana, hydrated lime, limestone and white slag
ller (steel industry waste). The physical, mechanical and durabil-
2.3. Fine aggregates
2.3.1. Production and composition of the recycled aggregates
The recycled aggregates used in this work were obtained from three different
sources of Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) originating from the most
common types of housing to be found in the municipality of Guanabacoa (Havana).
Approximately 80% of the CDW is generated from these three types of housing. The
composition of the recycled aggregates depends on the building typology and the
materials employed. The representative sampling was carried out according to
UNE-EN 932-1:1997 after the crushing of between 3 and 4.5 tones of each of three
types of building demolition waste. Table 3 shows the nomenclature used for three
types of recycled aggregates, their composition as well as their origin.
The three types of recycled ne aggregates were produced by using the follow-
ing production process:
First, the total volume of each type of CDW material was passed through a
4.76 mm sieve. The larger retained material was saved for crushing and the ner
sieved material was discarded. Second, all the larger retained material was crushed
into ner particles using a jaw type crushing machine. Third, all the crushed ner
particles were passed through a 4.76 mm sieve. The ner sieved material was saved
386 I. Martnez et al. / Construction and Building Materials 49 (2013) 384392

Table 3 Table 5
Origin of recycled aggregates. Properties of both natural and recycled aggregates studied.

Nomenclature of the Principal Origin of the type of building Properties NA1 NA2 NA3 RA1 RA2 RA3
recycled aggregate composition material 3
Density (kg/dm ) 2.42 2.58 2.6 2.13 2.09 2.11
obtained
Water absorption (%) 3.77 2.55 1.3 4.71 7.45 6.27
RA1 Principally Housing with ceramic tiled roof and Bulk density (kg/dm3) 1.44 1.49 1.48 1.25 1.16 1.29
ceramic. compacted earth and limestone Fineness modulus 3.74 3.89 2.93 2.78 2.92 3.12
walls. The waste obtained is mainly Material ner than 0.074 mm 5 3 1 13 12 8
ceramic and silica. sieve (%)
RA2 Principally Housing with roof formed of steel
mortar and beams and concrete slabs and walls
ceramic. of ceramic brick.
RA3 Principally Housing with roof formed of Table 5 shows the physical properties of the natural and recycled aggregates
concrete. reinforced concrete and walls of used. The density and absorption capacity were determined by the Cuban regula-
concrete blocks. tion NC 186: 2002. Regulations NC 181: 2002 and NC 182: 2002 were employed
to determine the compacted volumetric weight and the percentage of material
passing through a sieve No. 200 (<75 lm), respectively.
As shown in Fig. 1 and Table 5, the recycled aggregates used possessed a greater
Table 4 amount of nes material (smaller than 0.075 mm) than the natural aggregates. This
Chemical composition of recycled aggregates. difference in the properties of recycled aggregates when compared with natural
ones has also been discovered by other researchers [11,1315], however it does dif-
Elements Composition (wt.%) fer from the values obtained by Vegas et al. [10].
RA1 RA2 RA3 It is necessary to emphasize the elevated neness modulus that the natural
sands NA1 and NA2 showed, due to the lack of ne material. Although NA3 aggre-
Fe2O3 4.93 4.03 1.71 gate had less neness modulus, the amount of nes (smaller than 75 lm) was 1%,
MnO 0.08 0.07 0.08 being the lowest of all the aggregates.
TiO2 0.38 0.24 0.17 The grading distribution of the recycled aggregates was more adequate than
CaO 26.09 46.76 65.3 that of natural sands (see Fig. 1), however in this research work the natural sands
K2O 0.83 0.68 0.37 were used as they are commercialized in Havana. Our ndings concluded that
P2O5 0.08 0.15 0.1 NA1 aggregate had a high absorption capacity. But due to Havanas close proximity
SiO2 47.43 31.16 13.24 to the quarry, NA1 aggregate is the natural sand most employed within this city and
Al2O3 13.29 7.82 3.42 it was considered important to evaluate it.
MgO 3.82 5.77 5.77 As detailed in Table 5, the water absorption capacity of the recycled ne aggre-
Na2O 2.21 1.10 0.2 gates was greater than that of the natural aggregates, this fact had also been noted
Ignition loss 0.86 2.22 9.64 in other studies [10,11,16,17].

for use as recycled aggregates and the larger retained material was crushed again.
This procedure was repeated until all of the CDW was crushed to recycled ne
aggregate.
The chemical composition of the three types of recycled aggregates is described
in Table 4.
2.3.2. Physical properties of the ne aggregates
In addition to the recycled aggregates three types of natural aggregates were
also used, one from the quarry Victoria II (NA1) located in Havana, another from
the quarry La Reforma (NA2) located in Pinar del Rio (120 km from Havana) and
the third originating from the quarry Arimao (NA3) in Cienfuegos (about 240 km
from Havana). Both the aggregates NA1 and NA2 were obtained from the crushing
of the rock at the quarries, NA3, however, is a natural river sand. Fig. 1 shows the
particle size distribution of the aggregates used.
3. Mortar manufacture and test procedure
3.1. Mortar manufacture
The Cuban regulation NC 175:2002 establishes the volumetric
dosage for masonry mortars employed for different uses. The mor-
tars manufactured in this study were classied as type III mortars
(bonding and rendering mortars used at ground level) and had a
volumetric dosage ratio of 1:6 (cement : aggregate). Nevertheless
due to the low percentage of ne material (ner than 75 lm) con-
tained in Cubas three commercially produced aggregates (see
Fig. 1) the volumetric dosage recommended in Havana for the

100

90

80
Percentage of mass passing

70

60
NA1
NA2
50
NA3
RA1
40
RA2
30 RA3

20

10

0
0 0,149 0,297 0,59 1,19 2,38 4,76 9,52
Sieve size (mm)

Fig. 1. Particle size distribution of both the natural and recycled aggregates studied.
 I. Martnez et al. / Construction and Building Materials 49 (2013) 384392 387

Table 6
Characteristics of natural sand mortars.

Nomenclature Volumetric dosage Aggregate Filler Effective w/c ratio

CM1-LH 1:4:2 NA1 LH 1.32
CM2-LH 1:4:2 NA2 LH 1.3
CM3-LH 1:4:2 NA3 LH 1.28
CM1-LF 1:4:2 NA1 LF 1.36
CM2-LF 1:4:2 NA2 LF 1.32
CM3-LF 1:4:2 NA3 LF 1.38
CM-WS 1:4:2 NA1 WS 1.28
CM2-WS 1:4:2 NA2 WS 1.3
CM3-WS 1:4:2 NA3 WS 1.32

manufacture of masonry mortar is 1:4:2 (cement: aggregate: lime

hydrate). This was the volumetric dosage employed in this re-
search for mortar made with the three types of natural aggregates
and three types of ller (see Table 6).
The volumetric dosage used for the mortars produced with the
recycled aggregates was 1:5:1. In prior studies [15] it had been
shown that this dosage was the equivalent to the volumetric dos-
age of 1:4:2, mortars produced with natural aggregates established
by Cuban Regulations. The higher amount of ne material con-
tained in the recycled aggregate required a reduction in the use
of ller. As a consequence of the high amount of nes (material
smaller than 75 lm) in recycled aggregate, the use of a natural
aggregate mortar mix proportion of (1:4:2) for the production of
recycled aggregate mortar could cause a reduction of its properties.
In the same manner that too low a quantity of nes would also de-
crease the mortars properties [15,18].
A series of nine different mortars were produced using the three
types of recycled aggregates and the three llers described. Table 7
shows the nomenclature, the water/cement (w/c) ratio and the
aggregates employed for each of the different mortars. In order
to comply with the Cuban regulation NC 170:2002 all the mortars
made with natural and recycled aggregates achieved 185195 mm
of uidity measured by table ow. The water-cement ratio was
varied in order to achieve those values, no admixture was used.
The described effective water-cement ratio (see Tables 6 and 7)
was determined by measuring the quantity of free water in the
paste of each of the mortars. The effective water absorption capac-
ity of the ne aggregates was determined after soaking them for
30 min. The method used in the testing was that stipulated by
the Cuban regulation NC 186: 2002 for the determination of the
24 h absorption capacity of natural aggregates. This method is dif-
ferent to that dened by Rodrigues et al. [19]. The effective absorp-
tion capacity of the recycled and natural aggregates was 80% and
50% respectively of their total absorption capacity.
The manufacturing process was carried out according to regula-
tion NC 173:2002. The mortar specimens were de-moulded at 24 h
and then cured in a humidity room until the testing stage in com-
pliance with regulation NC 173:2002.
Table 7
Characteristics of recycled aggregate mortars.
Nomenclature Volumetric Aggregate Filler
Dosage
Fig. 2. Bond strength test.
3.2. Test procedure
3.2.1. Fresh state tests
All the mortars tested worked with a uidity of 190 + 5 mm
determined by the ow table and in accordance with Cuban regu-
lation NC 175. 2002. The water retentivity capacity was deter-
mined in all of the mortars according to regulation NC 169. 2002.
The fresh mortar was poured into a cylindrical mould of
100 mm diameter and 25 mm depth, and then subjected to suction
test employing a specic absorption lter. The water retentivity
capacity was determined by the amount of water absorbed by
the paper lter.
3.2.2. Hardened state tests
The physical and mechanical properties were determined at
28 days of curing according to ASTM C270-12a and NC 173: 2002
regulations, respectively. The mortar bond strength was deter-
mined in accordance with regulation NC 172: 200. It was measured
over concrete block (see Fig. 2) at 28 days of curing. The mortars
were kept in a similar humidity environment to the other test
specimens.
Moreover, capillary absorption capacity and the electrical resis-
tance were measured for each type of mortars. The shrinkage of
each of the mortars was determined according to regulation ASTM
C490/C490M-11.
In order to measure the capillary water absorption capacity, all
the surfaces of the specimens were sealed with an epoxy resin, ex-
cept for the top and bottom ends which were left untreated in or-
der to ensure the one directional transport of the water. The
specimens were immersed in water to a depth of 5 mm and the
water absorbed was determined by weighting the specimens after
4, 8 24, 48 72, 128 and 168 h of immersion.
The electrical resistivity of the mortars was determined at
28 days of curing and the shrinkage of each mortar was measured
according to ASTM C490/C490M-11. The mortar specimens were
separated from their moulds after 24 h and kept in a 28 C environ-
ment with 80% humidity. The variation of length was measured
Effective w/c
ratio
over a period of 90 days.

RM1-HC 1:5:1 RA1 LH 1.77

RM2-HC 1:5:1 RA2 LH 1.79 4. Results and discussion
RM3-HC 1:5:1 RA3 LH 1.39
RM1-R 1:5:1 RA1 LF 1.78
RM2-R 1:5:1 RA2 LF 1.81 4.1. Properties in fresh state
RM3-R 1:5:1 RA3 LF 1.4
RM1-E 1:5:1 RA1 WS 1.6 4.1.1. Consistency
RM2-E 1:5:1 RA2 WS 1.63
This test denes the amount of water needed for a mortar to
RM3-E 1:5:1 RA3 WS 1.44
reach adequate workability for its use on site. The results obtained
388 I. Martnez et al. / Construction and Building Materials 49 (2013) 384392

in this research (See Table 8) were similar to those obtained in pre- Table 9
vious work [14]. The recycled aggregate mortars studied in this Physical properties of the hardened mortars.

investigation needed more water than the natural aggregate mor- Mortars Density (kg/m3) Water absorption (%) Porosity (%)
tars in order to obtain the same adequate consistency. Others stud- CM1-LH 2078 15.7 28.2
ies have found an improvement of consistency for mortars with up CM2-LH 2113 15 27.5
to 15% of ne concrete and incorporating 10% of ne ceramic CM3-LH 2086 13.8 25.3
aggregate [7,8]. RM1-LH 1864 23.3 35.2
RM2-LH 1840 25.4 37.3
RM3-LH 1976 20.7 33.8
4.1.2. Water retentivity CM1-LF 2128 14.9 27.6
Cuban regulation NC 175: 2002 recommends a minimum water CM2-LF 2152 13.1 24.9
CM3-LF 2125 13.3 24.9
retentivity value of 90%. Table 8 indicates the water retentivity val-
RM1-LF 1913 20.3 32.3
ues obtained from the mortars studied. RM2-LF 1888 22.7 34.9
It can be observed that all the mortars manufactured with recy- RM3-LF 1966 19.3 31.9
cled aggregates comply with the values for water retentivity estab- CM1-WS 2206 14.3 27.7
CM2-WS 2293 11.6 23.8
lished under Cuban regulations. The difference between all the
CM3-WS 2231 12.8 25.3
mortars after varying the composition of the aggregates or llers RM1-WS 1982 20.7 33.9
was minimum. The high quantity of nes contained in the recycled RM2-WS 1963 22.1 35.5
aggregate favoured water retentivity. The opposite was the case for RM3-WS 2008 18.8 31.8
the mortars produced with natural aggregates. They did not obtain
the minimum value required by the mentioned regulation due to
the scarcity of nes. The only exception being those mortars which density while the mortars manufactured with recycled aggregates
had been produced using lime hydrate as a ller, as this contained and white slag ller achieved similar densities to those made with
the highest percentage (88%) of material less than 75 lm. natural aggregates and lime hydrate.
Silva et al. [14] showed that the replacement of natural sand by
recycled brick aggregate improved the water retentivity of fresh
mortar, nevertheless, according to Vegas et al. [10], the retentivity 4.2.1.2. Absorption and porosity. The mortars manufactured with
of natural aggregate mortar was higher than that of mortar made recycled aggregates obtained a higher porosity and water absorp-
with 25% of recycled concrete ne aggregates. It must be noted, tion capacity than those produced with natural aggregates. All
however, that the recycled aggregates used in that research work the RM2 type mortars had the highest absorption capacity and
had a lower amount of nes material than that of natural porosity values. The elevated absorption capacity of the recycled
aggregates aggregate RA2 and the high w/c ratio that was employed in its
manufacture were the factors that inuenced in the behavior of
4.2. Properties of hardened state this mortar.
The mortars produced with slags (WS) as ller, whether they
4.2.1. Physical properties were made with natural or recycled aggregates presented the low-
4.2.1.1. Density. The density of the mortars manufactured with est porosity values.
recycled aggregates was less than that of mortars produced with Fig. 3 shows the relation between the aggregates absorption
natural aggregates (Table 9). This was due to the lower density of and that of the mortars.
the recycled aggregates, as other researchers dened [10,11,14]. The mortar made with highest absorption capacity recycled
According to Braga et al. [8] the mortar which incorporated 15% aggregates achieved the highest absorption capacity. Mortar pro-
of recycled concrete ne aggregates in its production had by far the duced with lime hydrate as a ller stood out as being more
best results. The reason for this was that the very recycled concrete absorbent.
ne aggregate lled part of the voids present in the mortar. Our research did not nd a direct correlation between material
With respect to the different llers used in the manufacturing of ner than 75 lm and the mortars water absorption capacity, as
the mortar, the mortars produced with white slag obtained higher described by Miranda et al. [13].
According to Dapena et al. [9], it is not possible to compact the
specimens with a w/c = 0.5 ratio when the mortars are made with
Table 8 50% of recycled sand. If the water-cement ratio had remained con-
Properties of fresh mortars.
stant in all the mortars produced in this research work, the recy-
Mortars Consistency (mm) Water retentivity (%) cled aggregate mortar would have been too dry to achieve an
CM1-LH 193 91.7 adequate compaction and consequently the physical properties
CM2-LH 185 92.3 would have been affected negatively.
CM3-LH 195 91.3
RM1-LH 189 92.2
RM2-LH 190 90.8 4.2.2. Mechanical properties
RM3-LH 187 91.1
4.2.2.1. Compressive and exural strength. According to Cuban regu-
CM1-LF 191 87.2
CM2-LF 188 87.7 lations NC 173: 2002 a minimum compressive strength of 5,2 MPa
CM3-LF 191 89.3 at 28 days is required for the type III mortars (mortars which are
RM1-LF 189 90.6 adequate for use at ground level, for either rendering or bonding)
RM2-LF 191 90.4 studied in this research work.
RM3-LF 190 90.1
CM1-WS 187 88.2
Table 10 shows the compressive strength values and the stan-
CM2-WS 190 87.4 dard deviation of the mortars studied. It can be observed that all
CM3-WS 192 88.5 of the manufactured mortars reach the minimum strength value
RM1-WS 188 91.5 required by the Cuban regulation.
RM2-WS 188 91.1
The mortars manufactured using natural aggregate or recycled
RM3-WS 194 91.8
aggregate and white slag ller obtained better compressive
 I. Martnez et al. / Construction and Building Materials 49 (2013) 384392 389

30
CM1-LH
CM2-LH
25 CM3-LH
RM1-LH
RM2-LH

Mortars absorption (%)

20 RM3-LH
CM1-LF
CM2-LF
15 CM3-LF
RM1-LF
RM2-LF
10
RM3-LF
CM1-WS
5 CM2-WS
CM3-WS
RM1-WS
0 RM2-WS
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
RM3-WS
Aggregates absorption (%)

Fig. 3. Relationship between aggregates absorption and mortars absorption.

Table 10 Table 11
Mechanical properties of the hardened mortars. Durability properties of the hardened mortars.

Mortars Flexural strength Compressive Bond strength Mortars Sorptivity Resistivity

strength
Average value Standard Average Standard
Average Standard Average Standard Average Standard (mm/min^0.5) deviation value deviation
value deviation value deviation value deviation (mm/min^0.5) (kohm cm) (kohm cm)
(MPa) (MPa) (MPa) (MPa) (MPa) (MPa)
CM1-LH 0.903 0.037 13.8 0.15
CM1-LH 2.5 0.12 7.6 0.32 0.37 0.11 CM2-LH 0.710 0.065 10.4 0.21
CM2-LH 3 0.28 9.6 0.40 0.45 0.12 CM3-LH 0.710 0.065 12.8 0.26
CM3-LH 3 0.32 10.3 0.58 0.51 0.17 RM1-LH 1.033 0.112 26.9 2.27
RM1-LH 3 0.36 9.6 0.49 0.4 0.10 RM2-LH 1.226 0.112 16.6 0.21
RM2-LH 2.5 0.36 7.3 0.33 0.32 0.08 RM3-LH 0.839 0.037 13.1 0.38
RM3-LH 2.2 0.33 8.2 0.50 0.28 0.06 CM1-LF 1.614 0.075 16.3 1.44
CM1-LF 1.7 0.23 6.1 0.28 0.3 0.06 CM2-LF 1.032 0.065 16.7 0.60
CM2-LF 2.8 0.09 9.9 1.22 0.36 0.13 CM3-LF 1.485 0.134 18.4 1.47
CM3-LF 2.9 0.08 9 0.28 0.4 0.12 RM1-LF 1.485 0.186 29.9 1.90
RM1-LF 2.2 0.32 8.1 0.32 0.36 0.06 RM2-LF 1.614 0.037 22.2 0.46
RM2-LF 1.7 0.08 6.3 0.36 0.29 0.08 RM3-LF 1.226 0.065 15.1 0.47
RM3-LF 2.2 0.02 7.5 0.49 0.26 0.06 CM1-WS 1.226 0.197 17.8 0.32
CM1-WS 2.3 0.16 8.4 0.68 0.37 0.09 CM2-WS 0.840 0.037 18.1 0.80
CM2-WS 3.8 0.12 14 0.83 0.41 0.11 CM3-WS 0.968 0.065 16.5 0.40
CM3-WS 3.2 0.19 12 0.28 0.47 0.12 RM1-WS 1.032 0.065 29.5 2.29
RM1-WS 2.6 0.05 9.7 0.59 0.41 0.11 RM2-WS 1.292 0.244 20.4 0.44
RM2-WS 2 0.11 8.7 0.55 0.3 0.06 RM3-WS 1.033 0.075 13.5 0.46
RM3-WS 2.8 0.29 8.7 0.45 0.33 0.08

mentioned previously this was due to low quality of the NA1

strength results than the mortars produced using lime hydrate or
limestone ller.
It should be pointed out that the mortar made with recycled
aggregates obtained a higher compressive strength than that of
the control mortar produced with the NA1 aggregate (natural
sand). This was due to the low quality of this natural aggregate.
The mortars made with NA2 and NA3 obtained higher compressive
strength than the recycled aggregate mortars.
Mortar RM1 manufactured using recycled aggregate RA1 (pre-
dominantly composed of ceramic material) and lime hydrate
(RM1-LH) or white slag as a ller (RM1-WS) achieved the best
compressive strength values. This mortar obtained values which
reached higher than 9.0 MPa.
The Cuban regulation does not require the minimum value of
exural strength for masonry mortars. Table 10 shows the values
achieved by the mortars produced in this study.
The mortar made with natural aggregate NA1 achieved lower
exural strength than the mortars made with NA2 and NA3. As
aggregates. The mortars produced with NA2 and NA3 both
achieved a higher exural strength than that of the recycled aggre-
gate mortars. The mortar produced with recycled aggregates ob-
tained the lowest exural strength due to its high absorption
capacity and the high porosity of those mortars.
The mortars produced with limestone ller achieved lower
compressive strength and exural strength values than those of
the same mortars produced with lime hydrate or white slag.
According to Corinaldesi et al. [12], mortars containing recycled
aggregates developed lower mechanical strength with respect to
the reference cementitious mortar, particularlywhen the fraction
based on recycled bricks was employed. None the less, masonry
assemblages using this recycled aggregate mortar showed an
excellent mechanical behavior [6]. Silva et al. [14] used red-clay
ceramic construction waste in mortar production and concluded
that replacement ratios of up to 2050% improved the mechanical
properties of the hardened mortar. In the same way, Jimenez et al.
[11], dened that the replacement ratio of natural sand with up to
390
6 CM1-LH
Water absortion by capilarity (g/cm2)
5,5
5 RM3-LH
4,5
4
3,5
3 RM2-WS
1,2
40% of ne recycled aggregate from ceramic waste by volume did
not signicantly affect the properties of hardened strength mortar.
4.2.2.2. Bond strength. All the mortars achieved the minimum
bonding strength of 0.2 MPa at 28 days required by Cuban regula-
tions for masonry mortar type III (see Table 10).
The mortar NA3 produced with natural aggregates obtained the
best bond strength. This was probably due to the better grading
size distribution of this aggregate. In a prior study [20] it reached
results similar to those obtained in this research work using differ-
ent Cuban natural aggregates.
The mortars RM1 produced with recycled aggregate type RA1
(predominantly composed of ceramic material) reached the high-
est bond strength of all the recycled aggregate mortars, indepen-
dent of the ller used in its production. Moreover those mortars
achieved higher values than those obtained by the CM1 mortars
manufactured with Havanas most used aggregate NA1, due to
the low quality of this natural aggregate.
Miranda and Selmo [21] obtained bond strength values superior
to 0.3 MPa. The results obtained in this study coincide in as much
that it was not possible to obtain a good correlation between the
w/c ratio and the bond strength reached by the mortars.
Other studies show similar results of bond strength to those ob-
tained in the present work, Jimnez et al. [11], obtained 0.37 MPa
0.45 MPa with a 1:7 mortar proportion using up to 40% of recycled
ceramic aggregate in substitution of natural aggregates. Silva et al.
[14] reached 0.4 MPa in mortars produced with 50% of recycled
aggregates using a 1:4 (cement: aggregate) mortar mix proportion.
The results obtained demonstrated elevated dispersions (see
Table 10), mainly in the mortars where the highest bond strength
was achieved. In the results obtained by Alves et al. [22] the bond
strength values of the specimens made with the same mortar suf-
fered a high dispersion. In spite of these indications of dispersion,
the minimum values obtained in each of the mortars tested in this
work reached the minimum value required by the Cuban
regulation.
4.2.3. Durability properties
4.2.3.1. Capillary absorption. All the mortars produced obtained a
high suction capacity due to the high water-cement ratio used in
all of the mortars manufactured (see Table 11). In general the mor-
tars manufactured with recycled aggregates obtained a higher
I. Martnez et al. / Construction and Building Materials 49 (2013) 384392
CM2-LH
CM3-LH
RM1-LH
RM2-LH
CM1-LF
CM2-LF
CM3-LF
RM1-LF
RM2-LF
RM3-LF
CM1-WS
CM2-WS
CM3-WS
RM1-WS
1,3 1,4 1,5 1,6 1,7 1,8 1,9
RM3-WS
Effective w/c ratio (kg/kg)
Fig. 4. Relationship between capillarity and w/c ratio.
sorptivity in comparison to those made with natural aggregates
using the same type of ller.
The obtained results are similar to those achieved by Silva et al.
[14], in which the mortars produced with a 100% of recycled aggre-
gates had a higher capillary absorption capacity than the natural
aggregate mortars, however the mortars produced with 50% of
recycled aggregates achieved lower values than the natural aggre-
gate mortar.
The mortars manufactured with aggregate RA2 obtained the
highest capillary absorption due to this aggregates high absorption
capacity. The capillary pores were created by the evaporation of
the free water existing in the mortars paste. In general the mortars
manufactured with recycled aggregates required a greater quantity
of water to achieve the necessary values of uidity. It was this
greater quantity of water that produced the appearance of the
higher quantity of capillary pores and as a consequence the in-
crease of the mortars capillary absorption. Fig. 4 shows the rela-
tion between water absorption capacity and effective w/c ratio
after the mortar has been subjected to 7 days of capillary suction
testing.
4.2.3.2. Electrical resistivity. Table 11 shows the electrical resistivity
values obtained for each of the mortars studied. The mortars pro-
duced with RA1 aggregates presented the greater values of electri-
cal resistivity, independent of the type of ller used. The presence
of high percentage of ceramic material (see Table 4) caused an in-
crease of electrical resistivity.
4.2.3.3. Shrinkage. The length change (shrinkage) was higher in the
mortars manufactured with recycled aggregates than in the mor-
tars produced with natural aggregates (Figs. 57). This perfor-
mance was also noted by Mesbah and Buyle-Bodin [23]. Silva
et al. [14], found an important increment of shrinkage in the results
obtained from recycled mortars when comparing them with the
results obtained from natural aggregate mortar.
The RM2-LH mortar suffered the highest shrinkage. This high
amount of shrinkage was due to the use of aggregates with a high
absorption capacity as well as the nest ller material. As Miranda
and Selmo [24] dened that the high presence of ne aggregates
(material < 75 lm) was the main factor that affects this property.
The mortars manufactured with RA2 (RM2-LH, RM2-LF, RM2-WS)
suffered the highest shrinkage. The water absorption of the recy-
cled aggregate RA2, the highest amongst the aggregates studied,
 I. Martnez et al. / Construction and Building Materials 49 (2013) 384392 391

0 produced with lime hydrate obtained a higher shrinkage than

CM1-LH CM2-LH CM3-LH
RM1-LH RM2-LH RM3-LH
those made with limestone ller (LR) and white slag (WS).
-0,02

-0,04
5. Conclusions
Drying Shrinkage (%)

-0,06
The conclusions obtained from the work carried out are the
-0,08 following:
-0,1
The mortars produced with the three types of recycled aggre-
gates employed achieved adequate properties and even improved
-0,12 on the properties obtained by mortars made with natural aggre-
gates. This improvement was due to both the adequate size grad-
-0,14
ing distribution of the recycled aggregates and the low quality of
-0,16 natural aggregates located in Havana, Cuba. The use of a higher
amount of ller (hydrated lime, limestone ller or white slag)
-0,18 was necessary in the mortars made with natural aggregates to
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
achieve acceptable compaction due to little nes in those
Age (days)
aggregates.
Fig. 5. Drying shrinkage of mortars produce with lime hydrate. According to fresh properties of mortars:

 All the mortar produced with recycled aggregates using any

type of additions obtained the water retintivity of 90% required
0 for masonry mortar. The mortars manufactured with natural
CM1-LF CM2-LF CM3-LF
aggregates needed to employ more ller, due to the lack of
-0,02 RM1-LF RM2-LF RM3-LF
material ner than 0,074 mm and the high neness modulus.
It must be noted that only the mortar produced with lime
Drying Shrinkage (%)

-0,04 hydrated ller achieved the minimum value required.

-0,06 According to hardened properties:

-0,08  The mortars made with recycled aggregates, independent of the

composition of the CDW origin and the ller employed,
-0,1 achieved the minimum compressive strength required for
masonry mortars. The use of recycled ne aggregates improved
-0,12 the compressive strength of the mortars manufactured with the
most accessible natural sand in La Havana.
-0,14  The mortars manufactured with recycled aggregates which
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 were predominantly composed of ceramic material improved
Age (days) on the values of bond strength and exural qualities obtained
Fig. 6. Drying shrinkage of mortars produce with limestone ller.
in mortars which had been manufactured with NA 1 aggregate,
the most accessible and most used natural sand in La Havana.
Unfortunately this natural sand is of a very low quality.
 Most of the natural aggregate mortar achieved higher mechan-
0
CM1-WS CM2-WS CM3-WS ical properties than the recycled aggregate mortars.
RM1-WS RM2-WS RM3-WS  The masonry mortars manufactured with recycled ne aggre-
-0,02
gates obtained higher absorption capacity, porosity, sorptivity
and shrinkage than conventional masonry mortars, this was
Drying Shrinkage (%)

-0,04
due to higher water absorption capacity of those aggregates.
Nevertheless all the mortars obtained high values due to the
-0,06
water-cement relation.

-0,08
Both white slag and limestone ller can be used as a substitute
for lime hydrate in mortars manufactured with recycled aggregates
-0,1 without compromising the properties obtained in conventional
masonry mortars.
-0,12

-0,14
Acknowledgements
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Age (days) The authors would like to thank the Spanish Agency of Interna-
tional Cooperation for Development (AECID) and The Ministry of
Fig. 7. Drying shrinkage of mortars produce with white slag.
Exterior Affairs and Cooperation for the nancial assistance which
gave rise to this present research work. We would equally like to
make known the contribution of the construction materials labora-
resulted in the need for a higher volume of water in the mortars tory at the Centre of Studies of Construction and Architecture Trop-
interior. This additional need for water had an inuence on the ical (CECAT) and the Department of Construction Engineering at
shrinkage. On the other hand, as mentioned above, the mortars the Universitat Politcnica de Catalunya.BarcelonaTech (UPC).
392 I. Martnez et al. / Construction and Building Materials 49 (2013) 384392

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