Investigation on the usage of waste marble powder in cement-based adhesive mortar

•Marble wastes from marble quarries and production facilities are partially reusable.•There is a feasibility of incorporating the marble powder residue into adhesive mortar.•The substitution of 40% in the mortar with the residue is satisfactory.•All the test results for marble powder blended adhesive mortar are within the limits.

In this study, the availability of marble powder (MP) additive at different ratios were investigated instead of dolomite, which is the raw material in adhesive mortars of insulation board. Marble waste powder's humidity, chemical structure and particle size was investigated. Then, compressive - tensile - bending strengths, water absorption, initial setting time, and flow-spreading tests at the adhesive mortars with additive were performed. All results showed that marble waste powder's humidity was lower than 1%, and particle size amounts +710 µm and −125 µm were more than raw dolomite. As a result of the tests, it was determined that the values were obtained in accordance with the relevant EN standards. According to the results of XRD, the ratio of calcium carbonate and hatrurite ratio of marble powder are exceeded. The use of marble powder with dolomite was also investigated economically and it was concluded that it is more advantageous to make cost calculations.