Recycled Mortars with Ceramic Aggregates. Pore Network Transmutation and Its Relationship with Physical and Mechanical Properties

• Main Authors: Francisca Guadalupe Cabrera-Covarrubias, José Manuel Gómez-Soberón, Carlos Antonio Rosas-Casarez, Jorge Luis Almaral-Sánchez, Jesús Manuel Bernal-Camacho
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-03-01
• Series: Materials
• Subjects: recycled mortars; ceramic wastes; recycled aggregates; porosity; adsorption N₂; image analysis
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/14/6/1543

The porosity of mortars with recycled ceramic aggregates (10, 20, 30, 50, and 100% as a replacement of natural aggregate) was evaluated and analyzed using three different techniques. The results of gas adsorption (N₂), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) image analysis and open porosity allowed establishing the relationship between the recycled aggregate content and the porosity of these mortars, as well as the relationship between porosity and the physical and mechanical properties of the mortars: absorption, density, compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, and drying shrinkage. Using the R² coefficient and the equation typology as criteria, additional data such as Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller (BET) surface area (N₂ adsorption) established significant correlations with the mentioned properties; with SEM image analysis, no explanatory relationships could be established; and with open porosity, revealing relationships were established (R² > 0.9). With the three techniques, it was confirmed that the increase in porosity is related to the increase in the amount of ceramic aggregate; in particular with gas adsorption (N₂) and open porosity. It was concluded that the open porosity technique can explain the behavior of these recycled mortars with more reliable data, in a simple and direct way, linked to its establishment with a more representative sample of the mortar matrix.