Experimental investigation of drying shrinkage cracking of composite mortars incorporating crushed tile fine aggregate

Drying shrinkage is generally classified as an important hardened concrete property. It expresses the strain occurring in hardened concrete due to the loss of water. During the drying process, free and absorbed water is lost from the concrete. When the drying shrinkage is restrained, cracks can occur, depending on the internal stresses in the concrete. The ingress of deleterious materials through these cracks can cause decrease in the compressive strength and the durability of concrete. In this study, being as a fine aggregate in mortars, crushed tile (CT) effect on drying shrinkage and drying shrinkage cracking is investigated. Thus, compressive and flexural strength, modulus of elasticity, and free and restrained drying shrinkage tests are conducted on mortar specimens produced with and without crushed tile fine aggregate. The ring test has been used in order to investigate the cracks induced by restrained drying shrinkage. In this way, free drying shrinkage strain, along with the number and development of drying shrinkage cracks, of the crushed tile fine aggregate mortar composites are quantified and observed.