Rheological and mechanical properties of self-compacting mortars with granitic rock powder and manufactured sand

Abstract

The study assessed the use of granitic rock powder (GRP) and manufactured sand (MS) in self-compacting mortars (SCM) to achieve desired rheological properties. Different water/cement ratios of 0.42, 0.46, and 0.63 were used with partial replacement of cement volume by GRP at levels of 17%, 20%, and 40%. Additionally, a volumetric replacement of 50% natural sand with MS was studied. The performance of SCMs was evaluated using mini V-Funnel and mini Slump Tests, as well as physical-mechanical characterization. It was found that GRP content significantly influenced superplasticizer consumption and flow time without requiring additional viscosity modifiers while incorporating MS decreased flow time parameter. Furthermore, simultaneous incorporation of GRP and MS increased mixture density by up to 14% improved compressive strength by up to 29%, and flexural tensile strength by up to19%.