Comparison of mechanical and durability properties of traditional and new generation repair mortars

Before the discovery of cement in the world, structures were being built. The bricks or natural stones used in the bearing systems of these structures were accompanied by lime instead of cement as a binder. These structures, of which many examples can be found in our country, are called masonry structures. The most common mortar used in the construction of masonry structures is Khorasan mortar. In the production of Khorasan mortar, lime is used as a binder, and brick, tile and stone dust or fragments are used as aggregate. Lime-based mortars and cement-based mortars show different mechanical and durability properties from each other. For this reason, in order to use cement-based mortars as repair mortar in structures that built with lime-based mortars, the mechanical and durability properties of these mortars should be well known. In this study, 3 different sets of mortars were produced in order to compare the mechanical and durability properties of traditional lime-based mortars and cement-based new generation mortars. It was decided to use white cement and natural hydraulic lime as binder in the mortars. In order to observe the effect of different curing conditions, half of the mortars in te sets were cured in air and the other half in water. Different durability tests were carried out on the produced mortar samples. Durability properties were determined by tests such as freze-thaw, abrasion and acid.