Influence of Pigment Content and Cement Type on Appearance and Performance of Colored Self-Compacting Mortars (C-SCMs)

Colored self-compacting mortar (c-scm) is a novel cementitious product that has been recently used in decoration and rehabilitation and has improved esthetic quality of architectural constructions. c-scm is susceptible to strength decrease due to excessive pigment presence in the mixture. optimum pigment content with respect to color intensity and mechanical performance is an important matter that should be determined to prevent mortar failure after construction. in this research,two inorganic pigments in production of colored self-compacting mortar were utilized. the impact of titanium dioxide (tio2) and iron hydroxide (feo(oh)) contents on behavior of c-scms was investigated in white and gray cement matrixes. experiments included measurements of compressive strength of mortar cubes and cylinders,flexural strength and colorimetric properties. analyses on compressive and flexural toughness were applied,as well. it was concluded that pigment content in mix design of colored self-compacting mortar could be optimized with regard to color quality in surface and mechanical strength of the product. results implied that 5 and 2% of titanium dioxide were the saturation points of color and strength,respectively,and iron hydroxide at 10% was unsurpassed in c-scms containing white cement. application of both pigments in gray scms caused the saturation points of color and strength to occur at 10 and 2%,respectively. © 2017,iran university of science and technology.