Study on Strength and Durability Properties of Cement Mortar with Chemical and Thermal Activation of Clay Sudha P.*, Selvaraj R.**, Palanisamy T.*** *Research Scholar and Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, K. S. R. College of Engineering, Tamil Nadu, India **Principal Scientist, Central Electro Chemical Research Institute, Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, India ***Research Scholar and Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, K. S. R. College of Engineering, Tamil Nadu, India Online published on 2 August, 2016. Abstract In this paper, the consequence of clay on the strength and durability properties of the cement mortar has been looking into with thermal and chemical activation of clay as a partial replacement of cement in mortars. The clay can be chemically activated with 0.25M NaOH solution, and thermal activation is 800°C for one hour. The replacement levels of cement by 0% to 20% with an interval, 2.5% weight of cement for thermal and chemical activated clay were taken for the study. The mechanical and durability properties such as Compressive Strength, Flexural Strength, saturated water absorption, and chloride ion penetration of the clay mortars examined at the age of 28days. It was found that the strength of the cement mortar significantly increased by using thermal and chemical activated clay. The clay replacement was found to be 2.5% in the presence of 0.25M NaOH solution and thermal activation. The result of this investigation exhibits significant improvement in mechanical and durability properties with evident from XRF, FTIR, strength and FESEM. Top Keywords XRF, FESEM, Compressive strength, saturated water absorption, Chloride ion penetration. Top |