Development History of Dry Mortar Part One

For thousands of years, the construction of houses cannot be separated from the use of inorganic mortar materials. Gypsum has been known for more than 8,000 years, and the Babylonians began using gypsum mortar about 6,000 years ago. The use of hydraulic mortar based on volcanic ash may have been more than 3,000 years ago, and the early ancient Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans used this material in large quantities.

In the ancient and Middle Ages, additives such as soaps, resins, proteins and ash were used to mix them with inorganic adhesives and aggregates on the construction site to improve and enhance the performance of the mortar. As early as 1893, Europe published the first patent on the production and application of dry powder mortar. However, until the 1950s, dry mortar did not really develop, and the mortar used for construction was all on-site mixed mortar, that is, inorganic adhesive (cement in most cases) and aggregate (quartz sand in most cases) were transported to the site respectively, and then manually or mechanically mixed together in accordance with the appropriate proportion. Add water and stir to form mortar before use.

In the 1950s and 1960s in Western Europe and the United States, especially in Germany, the demand for new building materials and technologies in the construction industry grew rapidly. However, due to the shortage of labor at that time (especially the lack of experienced technical workers), coupled with the high cost of labor, and the construction period was shortened, so the new multi-functional building materials that could improve efficiency and meet different requirements were widely welcomed. Building materials products also tend to be diversified, and there are higher requirements for the quality and construction performance of building materials.

Since the 1960s, the combination of modern building construction and chemical industry in Western countries has promoted the development of dry mortar, which is mainly reflected in the following three trends: (1) field mixed mortar is replaced by pre-packaged dry mortar; (2) The application equipment of dry mortar has been rapidly developed, including bulk transport systems (such as silos), automatic mixing mechanical systems of dry mortar and water, and mechanical spraying equipment of mortar; (3) The technology of mortar modification using polymer adhesives (such as redispersible powder) and special additives (such as cellulose ether) is becoming more and more perfect, thus improving the quality of mortar products and meeting the construction requirements of the modern construction industry.