Experimental Investigation on Organic Water Slaked Lime Mortar

Abstract

Lime has been used as the most sustainable binder for the conservation and restoration of heritage buildings. The repair properties of lime based mortars are found superior to other mortars due to the compatibility issues of other mortars with ancient heritage structures. To increase the compatibility, the fresh lime mortar needs to be hardened by carbonation which is a slow process. Various researches showed that admixtures added advantage to lime mortar by increasing carbonation rate which increases the mechanical strength, weather and water resistance of the lime mortar. In India, plants, fruits and some part of vegetables were used as organic admixtures that increased the carbonation rate thereby promoting sustainable and eco-friendly repair mortar. This paper deals with how the slaking of lime putty with organic additives affect the carbonation and other properties of the repair mortar. To enhance the carbonation rate, organic was mixed with water and this organic water was added for slaking the lime putty. Raisins were added as the organic additive at an amount of 0, 2, 4 and 6 percentages. The process was monitored for a month and cubes were casted. Compressive strength test was performed to measure the mechanical resistance property of lime mortar. Analytical tests such as XRD analysis and FT-IR were performed to determine the chemical compatibility after curing it for 90 days. It was seen that the carbonation rate and the mechanical strength of lime was greatly influenced by the organic water slaked lime mortar.