Assessment of the properties of mortars made of sorel cement

Abstract

The purpose of laboratory tests was to determine the effect of sodium silicate and selected hydrophobic agents on the basic physical parameters and freeze-thaw durability of mortars made with Sorel cement in variable proportions. In order to determine the mortars’ parameters, samples of the dimensions of 4x4x16 cm and boards of the diameters of 1x4x16 cm were prepared. Parameters such as water absorption, capillary absorption, compressive and flexural strength and frost resistance were tested. Mortar supplemented with sodium silicate in the quantity of 2.6% of all components demonstrated the best properties. None of the other hydrophobic agents that were used to mitigate the negative effects of water on Sorel cement mortars demonstrated such positive properties. Flexural strength tests of all mortar batches, performed on cuboid samples and boards of the thickness of 1 cm, demonstrated a similar improvement in strength. The lowest value of compressive strength was recorded for the reference batch at 46.6 MPa, whereas the highest value was recorded for the second batch containing sodium silicate, at 49.8 MPa. During the testing of frost resistance, the lowest reduction of compressive and flexural strength was recorded for the reference mortar and for mortar with sodium silicate. All mortars were varied in the MgO/MgCl2 ratio and the total amount of water, the observed effects may be caused by other variables. However it is possible to notice the positive effect of selected hydrophobic agents.