Effects of Particle Size Distribution of Standard Sands on the Physical-Mechanical Properties of Mortars

Ruan L S Ferreira; Mauricéia Medeiros; Jéssyca E S Pereira; Glauco F Henriques; Jennef C Tavares; Markssuel T Marvila; Afonso R G de Azevedo

doi:10.3390/ma16020844

Effects of Particle Size Distribution of Standard Sands on the Physical-Mechanical Properties of Mortars

Materials (Basel). 2023 Jan 15;16(2):844. doi: 10.3390/ma16020844.

Authors

Ruan L S Ferreira¹, Mauricéia Medeiros², Jéssyca E S Pereira², Glauco F Henriques³, Jennef C Tavares⁴, Markssuel T Marvila⁵, Afonso R G de Azevedo⁶

Affiliations

¹ Civil Construction Department, Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Pernambuco, Pesqueira 55200-000, Brazil.
² Chemical Engineering Department, Federal University of the Rio Grande of the Norte, Natal 59078-970, Brazil.
³ Graduate Program in Civil and Environmental Engineering-PPGECAM, Federal University of Paraíba, Campus I Lot. Cidade Universitaria, João Pessoa 58051-900, Brazil.
⁴ Science and Technology Department, Federal Rural University of Semi-Arid, Caraúbas 59780-000, Brazil.
⁵ Campus Rio Paranaiba, Federal University of Viçosa, Rio Paranaiba 38810-000, Brazil.
⁶ LECIV-Civil Engineering Laboratory, UENF-State University of the Northern Rio de Janeiro, Campos dos Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro 28013-602, Brazil.

Abstract

Obtained natural sands can present different particle size distributions (PSD), although they have the same mineralogical origin. These differences directly influence the physical and mechanical behavior of mortars and, therefore, the performance of mortar and ceramic renderings. Standardizing the particle size of sands based on pre-established requirements in normative standards (NBR 7214 or ASTM C778) is one way to minimize these effects. However, these standards do not consider the optimization of the granular skeleton through the analysis of bulk density and PSD, which may be insufficient to obtain satisfactory results. Therefore, this paper analyzes the effects of using different particle size ranges on the physical and mechanical behavior of cement and hydrated lime mortars. The properties of consistency index, bulk density, air content, capillary water absorption, water absorption by immersion, flexural strength, compressive strength, and dynamic modulus of elasticity were evaluated. For this purpose, standardized sands of the same mineralogical origin were made with different particle size ranges, being: (i) standardized sand constituted by 25% of coarse and fine fractions (S25-control), (ii) standardized sand constituted by 30% of coarse fraction and 20% of fine fraction (S30-20), and (iii) standardized sand composed by 40% of coarse fraction, and 10% of fine fraction (S40-10), respectively. The results indicated that variations in the particle size composition of the standardized sands are necessary to obtain mixtures with higher compactness and, therefore, mortars with better physical and mechanical performance. Thus, the dosage of the particle size fractions of standardized sand should consider the optimization of the granular skeleton, being the unit mass and the granulometric composition as important parameters to meet this premise.

Keywords: cementitious materials; fine aggregate; granular skeleton; particle size.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the State University of the Northern Fluminense (UENF), partially financed by CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brazil) and provided additional financial by CNPq (Coordenação Nacional de Pesquisa) Code 309428/2020-3. The participation of A.R.G.A. was sponsored by FAPERJ through the research fellowships proc. no: E-26/210.150/2019, E-26/211.194/2021, E-26/211.293/2021, E-26/201.310/2021 and by CNPq through the research fellowship PQ2 307592/2021-9.