EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION ON PROPERTIES OF CEMENT MORTAR INCORPORATING EGGSHELL POWDER

Abstract

The use of waste materials in buildings is an innovative approach toward sustainability. The objective of this paper is to study the properties and behavior of cement mortar using eggshells wastes. Various low concentrations of eggshell powder (ESP) (0,1,3,5, 7, and 10 wt%) were used as partial replacement of cement in the mortar of (1:2) mixing ratio by weight. The maximum particle size of ESP is 75 μm. The soundness of cement in ESP-cement pastes was evaluated using the Le Chatelier method. The influence of ESP on the strengths of cement mortar was investigated by means of compression and flexural tests at various curing periods. It was found that there was no negative impact of ESP on the soundness of cement. A significant enhancement in compressive strength was recorded for all ESP-cement mortars at 7 days and 28 days. The highest improvements, (31.63%) and (11.65%), were observed for samples with 10wt% and 5 wt% of ESP respectively. At moderate periods of curing, samples with 1 wt% of ESP have the highest enhancements in compressive strength of about (8.93%) and (1.75%) for 42 days and 56 days respectively. A reduction in compressive strength was observed for all samples at late ages (70 days and 90 days). In terms of flexural strength, the addition of ESP (up to 5 wt%) results in an improvement in the flexural strength when compared with the control samples. The highest enhancement (21.20%) was recorded when cement was replaced with only 1 wt% at 7 days.