Experimental investigation of discarded additive material combination and composition to appropriate thermal insulating properties of the composite cement mortar

Abstract

Novel disposal of waste material and the promotion of sustainable green building material needs comprehensive characterization. In this work, industrial and agro wastes, such as egg shell (ES), fly ash (FA) and expanded polystyrene (EPS) were supplemented for sand in different proportions to appropriate the thermal insulating properties of composite cement mortar and their properties compared with normal cement mortar (NCM). The findings reveal that the incorporation of these solid wastes reduces the thermal conductivity of the composite cement mortar significantly without compromising on the other important properties such as workability, water absorptivity and compressive strength. The customized mortar with EPS and ES provides a significant reduction in thermal conductivity of 40% and 16%, respectively, with 25% replacement of sand by volume, whereas the mortar modified with FA was able to provide 17% higher compressive strength in comparison with NCM. Adopting these mortars appropriately for plastering the building structures will greatly reduce the energy consumption in buildings and also promote effective use of waste materials.

Keywords:

• Cement mortar
• water absorption
• thermal conductivity
• compressive strength
• waste materials

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.