Investigation of the pozzolanic properties of bricks used in horasan mortars and plasters in historic buildings

Abstract

Crushed brick used in historic brick-lime mortars and plasters (Horasan) were characterized for understanding their properties to develop intervention mortars for conservation. Brick powders were separated from original mortars and plasters, and analyzed by XRD, SEM-EDS, TGA and pozzolanic activity (PA) measurements. The results showed that the microstructures of brick powders were not completely vitrified, and their XRD analysis failed to show the peaks for high temperature (T>900°C) phases. PA measurements of all brick powders showed an ample amount of artificial pozzolan property. Consequently, brick powders aimed for conservation of historic mortars must have high clay contents in addition to being low-fired (T<900°C) in order to produce maximum conversion into amorphous phase for ideal PA values.