Behaviour of masonry mortars fabricated with recycled aggregate towards moisture

Abstract

One of the most frequent defect in building is appearance

of moisture. Due to the growing social awareness and

environmental policy, it becomes necessary to evaluate the

behaviour of a new construction materials regarding this

kind of defects. This paper studies the behaviour of masonry

mortars incorporating three types of recycled aggregates:

concrete, ceramic and mixed, with dosages 1:3 and 1:4 to be

compared to the behaviour of traditional mortars in terms

of absorption by capillarity, rainwater penetration and water

vapour permeability. The results show that under condition of

water absorption by capillarity or heavy rains, ceramic recycled

aggregate has the poorest behaviour due to its high mix water

absorption. Moreover, water vapour permeability is higher in

mortars performed with recycled aggregates, minimizing in this

way the condensation that can be produced in interior spaces.