Mortar
Chapter-6
Introduction
• Mortar is a workable paste used to bind building blocks such as stones, bricks,
and concrete masonry units together, fill and seal the irregular gaps between
them, and sometimes add decorative colors or patterns in masonry walls.
• Mortars are typically made from a mixture of binding material (Cement), inert
material (Sand) and water.
• Cement mortar becomes hard when it cures, resulting in a rigid aggregate
structure; however the mortar is intended to be weaker than the building blocks
and the sacrificial element in the masonry, because the mortar is easier and
less expensive to repair than the building blocks.
• The type and ratio of binder (Cement) to inert material (Sand) is determined
according to the work type by mortar analysis.
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Function and Use of Mortar
• Mortar is used to bind together the bricks or stones in brick or stone masonry.
• It is used to give a soft even bed between different layers of brick or
stone masonry for equal distribution of pressure over the bed.
• It brings additional structural strength indirectly and resistance against rain
penetration and other weathering agencies.
• It is used to fill up the dry or empty joints in liquid form known as Grouting.
• It is used to fill up the spaces between bricks or stones for making walls tight.
• It is used in concrete as a matrix.
• It is used in plastering and pointing works to hide the joints and to
improve appearance.
• It is used for molding and ornamental purpose.
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Types of Mortar
A. On the basis of Binding Material
• Cement mortar: It is prepared from Portland cement or its varieties, sand and
water. Depending upon the strength required and importance of work, the
proportion of cement to sand by volume varies from 1:2 to 1:6 or more. It is one
of the most widely used construction materials due to its strength, durability,
and versatility.
• Lime mortar: It is mixture of air hardening lime or hydraulic lime, sand and
water. The fat lime shrinks to a great extent and hence it requires about 2 to 3
times its volume of sand. The lime should be slaked before use. This mortar
is unsuitable for water-logged areas or in damp situations. It possesses good
cohesiveness with other surfaces and shrinks very little. It has lower shrinkage
and cracking tendency than cement mortar. It has good fire and sulfate
resistance property. Most of historical buildings are made of lime as binder, so
used for restoration of those buildings.
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Types of Mortar
• Gypsum mortar: It is prepared from gypsums or anhydride binding materials. It has
been used historically in construction for plastering walls, creating decorative finishes,
and bonding masonry units. Though less common than cement mortar in modern
construction, gypsum mortar is valued for its unique properties, including quick setting,
smooth finishes, excellent mouldability, light weight, good adhesion, negligible
shrinkage, and fire resistance.
CaSO4.1 H2O+
2 3 H2O CaSO4. 2H2O +Heat
2
(Plaster of Paris) (Gypsum)
• Mud mortar: It is prepared from soil or clay and are used in construction of traditional
houses for poor and temporary construction works. They are the cheapest type of
mortar prepared with locally available ingredients and are used for masonry works,
surfacing floors and plastering wall surfaces in low cost houses. They have good
thermal resistance and is highly workable. Low strength, high shrinkage with no
chemical setting and has less resistance to water.
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Types of Mortar
• Composite/Gauged mortar: Also known as guarded mortar or gauged mortar is
made by mixing cement and other binding material like lime. The advantages of lime-
cement mortar are increased water retentivity, workability, bonding properties and
frost resistance. This mortar gives good and smooth plaster finish and is used in
buildings.
B. On the basis of Application
• Brick laying mortar: It is intended for brick work. It plays a vital role in providing
strength, stability, durability, and load distribution for brickwork. E.g. Cement,
lime, gauged mortar.
• Finishing mortar: It is intended for architectural or ornamental parts , application of
decorative layers on walls and panels. E.g. Gypsum, gauged mortar.
• Special mortar: are intended for acoustics, X-ray shielding, plugging concrete at oil
fields, etc.
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Types of Mortar
C. On the basis of Physical and Mechanical Properties
• The basis of this classification is the strength of concrete which underlies the
durability of concrete. Building mortars are subdivided into nine grades on the
basis of compressive strength from 0.4 to 30 N/mm2 or from M1 to M9.
D. Special Mortar
• Fire-resistant mortar: This mortar is prepared by adding aluminous cement
finely crushed powder of fire-bricks. The usual proportion is 1 part of
aluminous cement to 2 parts of powder of fire-bricks. This mortar is fire-
resistant and it is therefore used with fire bricks for lining furnaces, fire places,
ovens, etc.
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Types of Mortar
• Lightweight mortar: This mortar is prepared by adding materials such as saw
dust, wood powder, etc. to the lime mortar or cement mortar. Other
materials which may be added are asbestos fibers, jute fibers, coir, etc.
• Packing mortar: To pack oil wells, special mortars possessing the properties of
high homogeneity, water resistance, predetermined setting time, ability to form
solid water-proof plugs in cracks and voids of rocks, resistance to subsoil water
pressure, etc. have to be formed.
Usually it consists of cement + sand + loam(sand, silt, clay).
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Types of Mortar
• Sound absorbing mortar: To reduce the noise level, the sound-absorbing
plaster is formed with the help of sound-absorbing mortar. The bulk density of
such a mortar varies from 6 to 12 KN/m3 and the binding materials employed in
its composition may be Portland cement, lime, gypsum as binder and
pumice, cinders, perlite aggregate(2-4 mm) as inert material.
• X-ray shielding mortar: It is a heavy type of mortar with bulk density over 22
KN/m3. The aggregates (sand) are obtained from heavy rock and suitable
admixtures are added to enhance the protective property of such a mortar.
Generally Barium Sulfate (Barite) and iron rich minerals are used as aggregate.
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Selection of Mortar for Different Construction
Works
10
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Characteristics of Good Mortar
1. Strength
• The strength of masonry depends upon both the mortar and the building unit
(brick, stone or block). Strong cement mortar leads to shrinkage cracks
whereas weak cement mortar (say 1:10) is not satisfactory. Strength of
hardened mortar depends on the activity of binding materials, the water-cement
ratio, consumption of binding material and the quality of sand.
2. Resistance to weathering
• The mortar for plastering should protect the masonry joints and units by
forming an impermeable sheet. A satisfactory bond between the building
units, mortar and plaster should be ensured.
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Characteristics of Good Mortar
3. Bonding
• Good mortar provides strong adhesion between masonry units to resist
separation and structural failure.
4. Mobility and Placeability
• The term mobility is used to indicate the consistency of mortar. The
placeability is the ease with which the mortar mix can be applied with a
minimum cost in a thin and uniform layer on the surface. Mortars
prepared from Portland cement alone are frequently deficient in cement
paste, stiff and non-placeable and often plasticizers are added.
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Characteristics of Good Mortar
5. Water Retention
• It should retain sufficient moisture to prevent drying out too quickly, ensuring
proper hydration of cement or lime. Mortar may lose so much water that the
amount left may be insufficient for its hardening and required strength. Plasticizing
agents like Hydroxy Propyl Methyl Cellulose(HPMC) may be added to enhance water
retention. Lime has better water retaining property than cement.
6. Cost-Effectiveness
• It should be economical without compromising on quality and performance.
7. Compatibility
• Mortar should be compatible with the materials used in construction, like bricks,
stones, or blocks, in terms of strength and thermal properties.
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Testing of Mortar
1. Crushing Strength Test (Procedure)
• Prepare the cement and sand paste of 1:3 proportion by weight using (P/4+ 3)
percent of water where P is the percentage of water required to produce a
paste of standard consistency.
• Fill the 9 numbers of molds by compacting it for 2 minutes on a vibrating
machine at a speed of 12000 ± 400 vibration per minute.
• Smoothen the top surface of the cubes with flat side of a trowel.
• Immediately upon completion of molding, place the cube molds in an
atmosphere of 27º C ± 2º C and relative humidity over 90%. After 24
hours, remove the specimens from the molds and keep them in water till
testing.
• Test the 3 cubes at 3 days, 3 cubes at 7 days and remaining 3 cubes at 28
days age in the compression testing machine at such a rate that maximum load
is reached in 80-100 seconds. 6. Report the average compressive strength in
N/mm2 (kg/cm2 ) for 3 days, 7 days and 28 days.
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Testing of Mortar
2. Tensile Strength Test (Procedure)
• Prepare the mortar mix of cement and sand in the ratio 1:3 and water content of
(P/5+2.5) % of total dry mix.
• Make the briquettes of standard dimensions by placing it in the mould.
• Remove the briquettes from the mould after 24 hours at the temperature of 27 +- 2°C
and submerge it in the water till they are taken out for testing.
• Take out the specimen after 3 days and place the specimen in the jaws of tensile
testing machine, where load is applied steadily and uniformly, starting from zero and
increasing at the rate of 0.7 N/mm2 of section in 12 seconds.
• Find the tensile strength of the sample.
• Repeat the procedure for next five samples and the average of the six test specimen
is taken as the tensile strength of the cement at the end of 3 days curing.
• Repeat the procedure for 7 days strength.
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Testing of Mortar
3. Adhesiveness Test on building units (Procedure)
• Two bricks are placed at right angles to each other.
• Mortar is placed to join them so as to form a horizontal joint. If size of brick is
19cm*9cm*9cm, a horizontal joint of 9cm*9cm i.e. 81 cm2 will be formed.
• The upper brick is suspended from an overhead support and a bond is hung
from the ends of the lower brick.
• The board is loaded till the joint between brick fails.
• The ultimate adhesive strength of mortar is obtained by dividing maximum load
by area of contact (81 cm2).
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Preparation, Storage and Handling of Mortar
Preparation
Small quantities of mortar are mixed manually; mechanical mixers may be used
for large quantities.
1) Manual mixing
• For manual mixing, sand is sieved, cleaned with water to remove dirt and dust
and dried. This dry sand is laid uniformly, on a pucca platform, over which
cement is uniformly spread. The whole mass is then thoroughly mixed with
spades till it becomes uniform in color. A depression is then made in the
middle of the mix and required quantity of water is added. The dry mix from the
sides is moved and placed on the edges of the depression formed till the water
is completely absorbed by the mix. The wet mix is then worked with spades
(like shovel but flat) to give a uniform consistency to the mortar.
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Preparation, Storage and Handling of Mortar
2) Mechanical mixing
• For mechanical mixing the calculated quantity of cement, sand and water are
fed into the cylindrical container of the mixer. A rotar with blades, inside the
container, rotates and thoroughly mixes the ingredients.
Storage
• Use mortar within 30 minutes to 1 hour after mixing to prevent setting and loss
of strength.
• Keep the mortar covered with a damp cloth or plastic sheet to retain moisture.
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Preparation, Storage and Handling of Mortar
Handling of Mortar
• Avoid long transportation distances to minimize water loss.
• Transport mortar to the site in small batches using wheelbarrows, buckets, or
mortar pans.
• Mortar that has begun to set should not be re-tempered (adding water and
remixing), as this reduces its strength and bonding ability.
• Spread mortar only over the area that can be worked on within 30 minutes.
• Apply a uniform layer and ensure proper bonding with building units.
• Clean mixing tools, pans, and buckets immediately after use to prevent
hardened mortar buildup.
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