CHARACTERIZATION OF HYDRAULIC MORTARS BY MEANS OF SIMULTANEOUS THERMAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

The properties of hydraulic mortars were studied by means of simultaneous thermal analysis (STA), according to a procedure proposed in the literature. Hydraulic limes, cement and/or slaked lime were mixed using different proportions of both inert and reactive aggregates, in order to test the effectiveness of such procedure in distinguishing the different degree of hydraulicity of such samples. The use of the normalized coordinates suggested in the literature results in overlapping of the clusters of different kinds of mortars. Modified coordinates are proposed, which give promising results in view of outlining a 'master curve' of hydraulicity.