The Use of Pre-Wetting to Improve the Mechanical Behavior of Masonry Mortar Elaborated with Crushed Oyster Shell

René Sebastián Mora-Ortiz (), Ebelia Del Angel-Meraz, Sergio A. Díaz, Emmanuel Munguía-Balvanera, Francisco Magaña-Hernández, Justino Alavez-Ramírez, Mayra Agustina Pantoja Castro and Jazmín del Rosario Torres-Hernández
Additional contact information
René Sebastián Mora-Ortiz: División Académica de Ingeniería y Arquitectura (DAIA), Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, Carretera Cunduacán-Jalpa de Méndez km. 1, Cunduacán 86690, Tabasco, Mexico
Ebelia Del Angel-Meraz: División Académica de Ingeniería y Arquitectura (DAIA), Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, Carretera Cunduacán-Jalpa de Méndez km. 1, Cunduacán 86690, Tabasco, Mexico
Sergio A. Díaz: División Académica de Ingeniería y Arquitectura (DAIA), Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, Carretera Cunduacán-Jalpa de Méndez km. 1, Cunduacán 86690, Tabasco, Mexico
Emmanuel Munguía-Balvanera: División Académica de Ingeniería y Arquitectura (DAIA), Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, Carretera Cunduacán-Jalpa de Méndez km. 1, Cunduacán 86690, Tabasco, Mexico
Francisco Magaña-Hernández: División Académica de Ingeniería y Arquitectura (DAIA), Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, Carretera Cunduacán-Jalpa de Méndez km. 1, Cunduacán 86690, Tabasco, Mexico
Justino Alavez-Ramírez: División Académica de Ciencias Básicas (DACB), Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco (UJAT), Carretera Cunduacán-Jalpa de Méndez km. 1, Cunduacán 86690, Tabasco, Mexico
Mayra Agustina Pantoja Castro: División Académica de Ingeniería y Arquitectura (DAIA), Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, Carretera Cunduacán-Jalpa de Méndez km. 1, Cunduacán 86690, Tabasco, Mexico
Jazmín del Rosario Torres-Hernández: División Académica de Ingeniería y Arquitectura (DAIA), Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, Carretera Cunduacán-Jalpa de Méndez km. 1, Cunduacán 86690, Tabasco, Mexico

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: In this research, the use of the pre-wetting technique is proposed as an ecological alternative to reduce water absorption in waste oyster shells used in the production of masonry mortar as a partial substitute for natural sand. An experimental study was conducted to assess the properties in both the fresh and hardened states of masonry mortars. Two mortar groups were prepared based on a control mixture, with natural aggregate replaced by crushed oyster shell (COS) in varying proportions. In one group, the COS was pre-wetted, while in the other group, the COS was used at its natural moisture content. The experimental results demonstrated that the pre-wetting process aided in reducing the water–cement ratio (w/c) in the mortar mixture, thereby improving its properties. In both mortar groups, favorable results were observed with respect to capillary water absorption. Although the compressive strength was affected by the incorporation of COS, pre-wetted mortars with substitutions of up to 30% achieved the reference value established in this research. The pre-wetting process proves to be a straightforward and cost-effective technique; it is environmentally friendly and will contribute to decreasing the accumulation of COS in landfills, thereby safeguarding natural material reserves.

Keywords: pre-wetting; sustainable construction; oyster shell; recycling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/1/199/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/1/199/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2023:i:1:p:199-:d:1307388

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().