Mechanical properties of mortars with EarthZyme additive

Abstract

Concrete is the most widely used building material in the world. However, owing to the high CO2 emissions from the production of cement, its use has been questioned, and attempts have been made to improve it. Various chemical additives are being used to improve concrete properties. Enzymes are organic materials and have been especially favoured in recent years owing to their low costs when used in traditional soil stabilisation methods. This study used the ‘EarthZyme’ enzyme as a plaster mortar additive and investigated its effects on the mechanical properties of mortars. EarthZyme completely biodegrades in nature and is used for soil stabilisation. By producing mortar specimens with additive enzyme ratios of 0 %, 0.01 %, 0.02 %, 0.03 %, and 0.04 %, the effects of the enzyme additions on the mechanical properties of the mortars (ultrasonic pulse velocity UPV, flexural strength ff and compressive strength fc) were determined. The flow table values of the mortar specimens in the flow table test varied within the range of 15–17 cm. According to the results, the flow table values of the mortars increase with an increasing addition rate of EarthZyme. Although the additive ratio of the EarthZyme does not significantly affect the mechanical properties of mortars at early ages (3 days), the enzyme addition ratio reduces the UPV and fc while improving ff at late ages (28 days). The enzyme addition ratio has no significant effect on the UPV and ff but has a significant effect on fc.