Effects of recycled sand on the properties and durability of polymer and cement based mortars

Abstract This study aims to evaluate the effects of recycled sand, derived from the deconstruction of buildings, on rheological, physical and mechanical properties of epoxy resin mortar (PM) as well on its durability against chloride ions diffusion. Comparative studies were carried out on cement based mortars (CM). The obtained results showed that the total substitution of standardized sand (SS) with recycled sand (RS) diminishes drastically the workability of epoxy resin mortars. Furthermore, substituting natural sand by recycled one leads to the decrease of mechanical strengths of PM manufactured with 20% of binder. It causes, also, a reduction of the resistance to chloride ions migration attributed to a higher connectivity of the porous network than that of standardized mortar. Compared to cement based mortars, epoxy resin mortars have a lower porosity and therefore higher mechanical properties and better resistance to the diffusion of chloride ions regardless the nature of sand.