doi:10.3850/978-981-08-7920-4_S3-M021-cd

ABSTRACT

Pozzolanic materials and their utilization in mortar for masonry are uncommon in Ghana. However in many developed countries and part of Asia, mortar formulation prepared from Portland cement and a pozzolan is common. In this work clay pozzolana was produced from local technology and used to replace up to 40% OPC for masonry mortar formulation. Physical, chemical and mineralogical characterizations were investigated on the powder clay pozzolana sample. Clay pozzolana content at 10%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 35% and 40% were used to replace Portland cement to prepare binary paste and mortar. Water demand and setting time test were determined on the binary paste and compared to the plain cement paste. Compressive strength testwas performed on a 1:3 binder to sand ratio andwater to cement ratio of 0.5whichwas cured under water for 28 days. Masonry mortar strength values were analyzed in accordance to the ASTM C270 standard specification. The test results indicated that the clay pozzolana specimen satisfied the ASTM C618 standard specification. Compressive strength analysis indicated that the optimum pozzolana content in Portland cement mortar that satisfied ASTM type M and S mortars were at 20% and 40%. The incorporation of clay pozzolana to replace part of Portland cement would provide alternative mortar formulation for builders and engineers in Ghana.

Keywords: Portland cement, Clay pozzolana, Masonry mortar, Water demand, Setting time, Compressive strength.

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