DESIGN OF SUSTAINABLE MORTARS FOR USE IN STRUCTURAL REHABILITATION WORKS

Sustainable Development Goal number 12, ‘Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns’, establishes the objective of sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources by the year 2030 and substantial reductions of waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling, and reuse. In this context, the recycling of waste from the steel and iron-making industry for use as raw material in the construction industry is addressed in the present work. In doing so, in addition to recycling waste that might otherwise be dumped, the consumption of natural raw materials is reduced. With these aims in sight, several mortars are designed, seeking to achieve different strengths, with the partial substitution of natural components for by-products from the steel making industry. Fresh and hardened mortar properties were tested. The main use of the mortars was for structural rehabilitation works, so special attention was placed on the bond between fresh mortars and hardened substrate. Achieving dosages with high bonding strengths figured among the main challenges of this work in which very encouraging results were obtained.