This paper evaluates the potentiality of metakaolin and crushed waste fired clay brick as cement replacement materials. They were characterised physically, chemically and mineralogically and their activity with Portland cement determined. The influence of the partial replacement of Portland cement on the development of compressive and flexural strength was evaluated until the age of, respectively, 365 and 208 days. The percentage of cement replacement, in weight, ranged from 20 to 50%, whereas the water/cement ratio ranged from 0.37 to 0.45. The results obtained show that the metakaolin and crushed calcined clay brick presented a good pozolanic activity and that the compressive strength of the blended mortars after 28 days of cure was higher than that observed for the reference Portland cement for all levels of cement replacement and water/cement ratio. A mathematical model to predict the compressive strength is proposed based on a factorial design of experiments.
Portland cement; metakaolin; mortar; compressive strength; flexural strength
