Experimental Study of the Effects of Charcoal and Crushed Bricks on the Air Lime Mortars Properties

The lime gathers all the qualities, required from building materials within the framework of the sustainable development (Low grey energy and absorption of CO2 during the hardening. However, lime presents certain disadvantages like relatively slow setting and carbonation, low mechanical performances compared with cement and high drying shrinkage. For this study, the charcoal and the crushed bricks were added with different proportions to the lime mortar in order to assess the impact on the physical and mechanical properties of this mortar. The primary focus was to assess the differences in setting time and investigate the reasons behind the measured differences. In parallel, the mortar prisms 4 4 16 cm was analyzed in the laboratory conditions in view of mechanical properties and shrinkage phenomena. Finally, a RILEM Test Method II.4 is used to measure water absorption under low pressure and permeability to water of the lime mortar.