Capillary Absorption Evaluation of Different Mortars Applied in Civil Construction

The absorption by capillarity is one of the main characteristics of the mortars, connected directly to the internal flow of water through their pores and consequently their durability over time. The objective of this work is to evaluate the influence of the conditions of the materials, as the granulometry of the sand, in the internal capillary flow of cement- and lime-based mortar, according to the Brazilian standard. Thus, prismatic specimens (4 × 4 × 16 cm) with sands of different particle sizes (Dmax = 1.2 and 2.4 mm) were made, evaluating the capillary absorption and the capillary coefficient of the mortars with 1:1:6 (cement: lime: sand), following the Brazilian regulations. The results showed that the larger the average grain size, the greater the number of voids indicating an increase in the capillary flow, damaging applications of these mortars in construction.