STABILIZED MUD MORTAR

Masonry mortar is a homogenous mixture comprising of fine aggregates, binding material and water. In the present scenario, where the supply of sand is falling short of meeting the demand, it becomes imperative to finding an alternative. Mud mortar was commonly used for low rise masonry buildings in the past. When the soil used for the mortar contains clay, problems like volume instability due to its high affinity towards water. To negate this effect, stabilization of the mortar is necessary. Cement and lime are used as binders individually and in combination. The paper focuses on an experimental study to understand the various characteristics of stabilized mud mortars. Workability and strength of 12 different combinations of stabilized mud mortars have been examined. Flow table tests were conducted to quantify the workability of the mortars. It was observed that the water requirement of the mortar for attaining 100 % flow increases with the increase in the clay fraction of the mortar mix. In the present work, the viability of replacing sand partially or fully with locally available red soil and brick dust is studied. The mortar with the alternative fine aggregates, mixed with different combinations of binding materials i.e., cement and lime was tested for 28 days compressive strength. The mortar with 50% replacement of sand and 12 % cement has compressive strength in the range of 4.25MPa which is acceptable as per the IS code specification, the minimum strength requirement of mortar to be 3 MPa. Therefore, the use of stabilized mud mortar in constructio