Title: Assessing the Durability of Lateritic Based Earthen Mortars/plasters Treated with Meta-Kaolin, Lime and Cement

Abstract:-- Traditionally, Lime-Meta-kaolin (MK) admixtures have been applied in the past as mortars, plasters, and sealers and studies indicate that they exhibit good strength and resistance properties. Laterised mortars and plasters like most earthen materials are held as economical options for low-cost housing and historical architecture. However, the durability of lateritic mortars and plasters has been of great concern to the scholars. This work aimed at assessing the durability of lateritic mortars by treating it with pozzolans such as Meta- Kaolin, lime, and cement, which have shown in partiality or collectively to exhibit good strength and resistance properties. This was done in an attempt to exploit the full potential of laterite as a low-cost building material in earthen structures. To this end, experimental setups were established which involved investigating the effect of Meta-kaolin on Lime-treated Laterite, the unconfined compressive strength (UCS), the effect of drying and wetting cycles, the influence of water content and frost resistance. The results show that meta-kaolin greatly influences the chemical properties of lime-treated lateritic soils such as pH and calcium ions consumptions, and the amount of water present in a mortar significantly affects the strength and consequently the long-term water retention behavior. Moreover, the mortar exhibited good resistance to drying and wetting cycles, especially when sand was added to the mortar. Further, the mortar showed reasonable frost resistance under repeated freeze and thaw cycles, especially for an earthen mortar.