Production of environmentally-friendly, high-strength repair mortar for the restoration of historical buildings

In this study, repair mortars with artificial and natural pozzolan additives were produced for the restoration of historical buildings. Class C fly ash, an artificial pozzolan and zeolite the natural pozzolan, were substituted into these lime-based mortars. Two different aggregate types were used in the preparation of the mortars: natural river sand and crushed brick. A total of 18 batches of mortars were produced, two of which were reference batches. In the first group of batches, fly ash, which is the major pozzolan, was tested in both aggregate groups in 20%, 40%, and 60% ratios of lime substitution. In the second group of batches, fly ash and zeolite were used in different proportions as lime substitution. In the reference series, air lime was used alone. At the end of the 28, 56, and 90 days curing period, mechanical, physical properties, and phase composition of the mortars were determined. When the pozzolan-added mortars were compared with the reference mortars, it was observed that pozzolans provided significant improvements in the physical and mechanical properties of the repair mortars. While significant improvements were observed in the physical properties of the mortars where fly ash was used as the only pozzolan, mechanical properties were better in the mortars with zeolite.