Comprehensive study on the role of mycrisparite in enhancing strength, stability, and microstructural traits of self-compacting mortars

The present research work aims at promoting the mechanical, durability and microstructure performances of self-compacting mortars (SCMs) and lessening the cement production-induced costs and environmental difficulties, by replacing binder with definite proportions (2.5–15%) of MS. To achieve these goals, the compressive and flexural strength (UCS, FS), freeze–thaw (F–T), sorptivity (Sp), MIP (tP, psD) and SEM tests were conducted on SCMs cured for diverse (7–90 days) ages. The outcomes unearthed that replacing binder with MS at small proportions boosted the UCS/FS performances of SCMs. These improvements in strength performance compared to MS-0 were more spectacular in MS-2.5, which produced higher UCS and FS of 8.6–21.0% and 10.0–25.7%, respectively at all curing ages. Similarly, the same SCMs, which betrayed lower UCS- (10.3 < 16.7) and FS-losses (31.6 < 41.0) than the control at the end of the 200-cycle F–T test, were able to remain more endurance against F–T deterioration. Besides, MS replacement up to 10% enabled the SCMs to exhibit lower tP- (up to 11.2%) and Sp values (up to 61.2%) by ameliorating the psD (refining the larger pores into finer pores). The current research can be consequently commented to provide more beneficial SCM design on both strength/stability and microstructure, and cost and environmental troubles for the building industry.