A study on the properties of different plastering materials

• Main Authors: Chan, Catherine M., Santos, Jennifer M., We, Alex S., Jr
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2011
• Subjects: Building materials > Environmental aspects; Plastering > Equipment and supplies; Civil Engineering
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/11279
• Institution: De La Salle University

Plaster plays a crucial role in the performance of a structure. It does not only bond individual units together and level out irregularities on surfaces but more importantly, it seals the structure against moisture and air penetration. Cracking of plaster is a major problem being dealt by engineers for several years already, causing large amounts of money just for its repair. Its prevention and control would mean high financial savings. Eight (8) different plastering materials were studied. Four of which are commercial plasters while the remaining four are mortar plasters having different mix designs. The properties discussed in the paper include the compressive strength, drying shrinkage, density, workability, cost and crack propagation. By establishing a point system of equal weights for each of the properties considered, the best plastering material was chosen. After a series of tests, results have shown that three out of four commercial plasters belonged to the top performing plasters. Generally, the performance of each plastering material is not only based on compressive strength as it is mostly the case for concrete. For mortar plasters, the major advantages were identified as the compressive strength, workability and cost while for commercial plasters, more points were given for its drying shrinkage and density. Crack evaluation has shown that after the specimens were subjected to maximum loads, mortar plasters manifested greater extent of crack formations. The degree of cracking, crack length and crack width were considered in the analysis through visual inspection of the images taken using the specimens subjected to loading.