Support-mortar interface: analysis of physical characteristics based on several experimental programmes

Abstract The most commonly used wall coatings in Portugal, and also in the rest of Europe and the world, are still mortars, both lime- and cement- based, be they traditional, on-site or pre-dosed. According to the current standards, performance studies on these mortars are carried out on laboratory-produced specimens, in standard dimensions, and under pre-established curing conditions and tests. However, when mortars are applied to real substrates, their final behaviour will not be the same. The dimensions, application conditions and curing conditions are different. It is, therefore, widely agreed that the final characteristics of mortars applied under real exposure conditions will be different from those obtained in the laboratory. This study is part of a wider investigation in the scope of the IF Mortar project, which aims to analyse the influence of the characteristics of several different supports on the characteristics of different types of mortars, to more accurately predict the final behaviour of mortars after their application. This paper presents some of the results already obtained in experimental campaigns, concerning the physical characteristics of different mortars applied to different supports.