Study on the effect of additives on the shrinkage of cement mortars

Cementitious mortars containing different kinds of additives were prepared and their shrinkage rate up to 90 d were measured. The test results show that the shrinkage rate increases with increasing the content of lime putty while decreases with increasing the content of fly ash or latex. The shrinkage mechanism of mortars containing different kinds of additives are discussed preliminary. Furthermore, some suggestions on reducing the shrinkage of mortar are proposed.