Effect of Specimens' Shape and Size on the Determination of Compressive Strength and Deformability of Cement-lime Mortars

This work presents comparative analyses of the effect of specimens' shape and size on the compressive strength and modulus of elasticity of mortars. Mortar mixtures with compressive strength between 5 and 20 MPa were produced. Experimental tests determined the compressive strength of cylinder specimens of (5 x 10) cm and (10 x 20) cm, and also cubic specimens resulted of mortar's flexural strength tests, which use (4 x 4 x 16) cm prisms. The modulus of elasticity of the cylinder specimens was also determined. Cubic specimens' compressive strength was higher than (10 x 20) cm cylinder's compressive strength and lower than (5 x 10) cm cylinder's compressive strength. The dimensions of the cylinder specimens influenced its compressive strength, which was higher for the (5 x 10) cm specimens. However, it did not affect the static modulus of elasticity of the material. Correlations between the results were established and comparisons with different authors' results were made, improving both technological control and characterization of cement-lime mortars.