Study on using Vermiculite as aggregate to produce biological coating mortar

Abstract

This paper presents the preliminary study on using vermiculite with and without bacteria to make new biological coating mortars to protect the concrete substrate of reinforced concrete culvert systems exposed to the aggressive environment in drainage systems. The properties of mortar will be evaluated under standard condition and in a typical wastewater environment. The experimental results show that adding 0-30% vermiculite (by vol.) to replace sand to make a coating mortar with a 28-day flexural strength of over 5 MPa and 28-day compressive strength of over 30 MPa.