Mortars with addition of local industrial by-products

Abstract

Results obtained by studying the possibility of replacing cement in mortars with local industrial by-products, i.e. with silica fume and red mud, are provided in the paper. The results of fresh and hardened mortar properties tests conducted on five mixtures in two series are presented. 10% of cement was replaced with silica fume, and 0%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% of cement weight was replaced with red mud. The first series was tested after 28 days of curing, and the second series was subjected to freezing and thawing cycles after proper curing, and then submitted to testing. The results point to satisfactory behaviour of mixtures with a low red mud content.