Development of eco-friendly mortars incorporating glass and shell powders

Nowadays, since thermal insulation, enhanced mechanical properties and durability have become extremely important in construction elements. The concept of developing new economical and eco-friendly mortars that incorporate various types of wastes as a partial replacement of cement and sand has gained a great interest. In this paper, sand was partially substituted (20, 40 and 60% by weight) with either glass powder or mussel shells powder with water to cement ratio of 0.6. Mortar's thermal conductivity, volumetric heat capacity, compressive strength and resistance to chloride ingress were evaluated and compared with those of ordinary mortar. Glass powder and mussel shells can improve thermal insulation by reducing their thermal conductivity. An optimum ratio 40% by weight of glass powder improves compressive strength of mortars. Besides, High glass powder content can significantly improve mortars resistance to chloride penetration.