Elaboration and characterization of fiber-reinforced self-consolidating repair mortar containing natural perlite powder

Abstract

This research project aimed at evaluating experimentally the effect of natural perlite powder as an alternative supplementary cementing material (SCM) on the performance of fiber reinforced self-consolidating repair mortars (FR-SCRMs). For this purpose, four FR-SCRMs mixes incorporating 0%, 10%, 20%, and 30% of natural perlite powder as cement replacements were prepared. The evaluation was based on fresh (slump flow, flow time, and unit weight), hardened (air-dry unit weight, compressive and flexural strengths, dynamic modulus of elasticity), and durability (water absorption test) performances. The results reveal that structural repair mortars confronting the performance requirements of class R4 materials (European Standard EN 1504-3) could be designed using 10%, 20%, and 30% of perlite powder as cement substitutions. Bonding results between repair mortars containing perlite powder and old concrete substrate investigated by the slant shear test showed good interlocking justifying the effectiveness of these produced mortars.