Properties of cement based mortars enriched with diatomaceous earth

The paper deals with the application of diatomaceous earth in production of cement-based fine-grained mortars. In mortars mix composition, Portland cement was partially substituted by diatomite powder in the dosage of 5-20 vol. %. The water binder ratio of 0.5 was maintained similar for all studied mortars. For the examined materials, bulk density, specific density, total open porosity, mechanical parameters and thermo-physical properties were investigated after 28 days of samples water curing. Obtained experimental results give a clear evidence of high pozzolanic activity of diatomite that reduced open porosity and thus supported mechanical resistance of hardened materials. Although samples porosity with diatomite decreased, there was recorded heat transport mitigation attributed to the highly porous diatomite particles.