Comparison of physical and mechanical properties of mortars manufactured with coated and uncoated perlite aggregate

Perlite is one of the most important underground resources in our country. It is a rock that can expand up to 20 times its initial volume when expanded by heat. Expanded perlite can be used in industrial sectors such as construction sector, agriculture sector, food sector, medicine and chemical sector. Expanded perlite is used as a low density building material due to its high heat and sound insulation properties. Due to its lightweight, it decreases the dead load of the building and therefore increases the performance of the building against the earthquake. However, due to its high water absorption capacity, expanded perlite affects the physical and mechanical properties of concrete negatively. Therefore, it was tried to reduce water absorption by covering the expanded perlite polymer. In this study; mortar production was carried out by replacing with 0%, 20%, 40%, 60% and 80% rilem sand respectively with expanded perlite coated and uncoated. The effective water to cement ratio of all mortar samples was determined as 0,6 Tests were carried out on mortar samples to determine density, compressive strength, flexural strength, capillary water absorption, ultrasonic pulse velocity, water absorption ratio and thermal conductivity. The results showed that the density of mortar samples were reduced with increasing perlite content and that the physical and mechanical properties changed accordingly. Mortar samples with thermal insulating properties were obtained as a result of reduced thermal conductivity. Polymer coating of expanded perlite improved physical and mechanical properties.