Estudo das propriedades tecnológicas da argamassa de revestimento com incorporação da vermiculita expandida

Abstract

The search for construction materials that will bring advances, especially in the energy efficiency aspect of buildings, is progressing intensively. In this context, the number of researches, in the field of civil construction, is increasing, aiming to study the use of light aggregates, such as vermiculite. The vermiculite is a natural mineral, which has important properties, in addition to its low density, such as: low thermal conductivity and high resistance to fire. In the present research, the performance of four mortar samples with expanded vermiculite was determined in defined percentages of replacement of the aggregate in volume (25%, 50% and 100%). The expanded vermiculite was characterized by unit mass, particle size, scanning electron microscopy, X ray diffraction and X ray fluorescence. The consistency index, mass density and water retention were tested for the fresh state, and tensile strength in flexion, compressive strength, apparent mass density, water absorption by capillarity, void index, elasticity modulus and thermal conductivity, for the hardened state. The results showed that with a vermiculite incorporation there was a reduction in the consistency index, increasing also the retention of water and the void index. The mass density in the fresh and hardened states decreased, making the mortar lighter. The best results were obtained for mortar with 25% expanded vermiculite incorporation, with a reduction of 15% in thermal conductivity, 11.31% in water absorption by capillarity and only 3.16% of tensile strength in flexion and 1.97% of compressive strength.