Title: Thermal performance of recycled aggregate mortar

Authors: Thomas Nicholas II; Paul D. Radford; Nan Byars

Addresses: Department of Engineering Technology and Construction Management, UNC Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28223, USA ' Department of Engineering Technology and Construction Management, UNC Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28223, USA ' Department of Engineering Technology and Construction Management, UNC Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28223, USA

Abstract: When investigating the applicability of different materials for construction it is prudent to ensure that the materials used in replacement exhibit comparable performance to the natural material being replaced. This study uses a thermal conductivity analyser to determine the thermal conductivity and effusivity of standard normal weight masonry sand mortar specimens and several recycled and lightweight aggregates mortar specimens. R-values for each of the test mortars and the control mortar made with masonry sand was calculated with the control having the lowest R-value of the mortars tested. The results showed that replacing masonry sand mortar with any of the other mortars tested reduced the effect of thermal bridging through the mortar joint.

Keywords: thermal testing; recycled materials; masonry; aggregate mortar; construction materials; thermal conductivity; R-values; thermal bridging; thermal performance; recycling; recycled aggregates; lightweight aggregates.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSDES.2014.071473

International Journal of Sustainable Design, 2014 Vol.2 No.4, pp.315 - 326

Received: 05 Nov 2014
Accepted: 09 May 2015
Published online: 29 Aug 2015 *

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