mortar

mortar, in building

mortar, in building, mixture of lime or cement with sand and water, used as a bedding and adhesive between adjacent pieces of stone, brick, or other material in masonry construction. Lime mortar, a common variety, consists usually of one volume of well-slaked lime to three or four volumes of sand, thoroughly mixed with sufficient water to make a uniform paste easily handled on a trowel. Lime mortar hardens by absorption of carbon dioxide from the air. Once universally used, lime mortar is now less important because it does not have the property of setting underwater and because of its comparatively low strength. It has largely been supplanted by cement mortar, commonly made of one volume of Portland cement to two or three volumes of sand, usually with a quantity of lime paste added to give a more workable mix. Cement mortar, besides having a high strength, generally equal to that of brick itself, has the very great advantage of setting or hardening underwater. Other varieties include gauge mortar, for rapid setting, composed of plaster of Paris used either pure or combined with lime or with lime and sand, and grout, a thin liquid mixture of lime or cement, poured into masonry to fill up small interstices. Primitive mortars took various forms: in early Egypt, Nile mud was used as an adhesive; the Mesopotamians used bitumen (the slime mentioned in Genesis) or sometimes a mixture of clay, water, and chopped straw, to cement together their unbaked bricks; Greeks of the Mycenaean era probably employed a soft bituminous clay. The advanced Greek buildings are notable for their construction without mortar, the huge blocks of stone being consummately fitted with dry beds. The Romans likewise used little mortar in cut stonework or vaulting but in later periods bedded the rough stone of their mass masonry in strong cement mortar. In medieval times and in all periods since, mortar of some sort has been almost universally used in masonry construction.

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mortar, in warfare

mortar, in warfare, term originally applied to certain types of artillery with high trajectories, but later applied to an infantry weapon that consists of a tube supported by a bipod that fires a projectile at a very high trajectory. The mortar is not usually classified as artillery. Unlike standard types of artillery, mortars need no complex recoil equipment and are usually smoothbore and muzzle-loaded. Their weight is light in relation to the weight of shell delivered, but at the expense of range and accuracy. First developed by Sir Frederick Stokes during World War I, the mortar was used by infantry in trench warfare and is standard equipment in modern armies.

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mortar

Short-range artillery piece with a short barrel and low muzzle velocity that fires an explosive projectile in a high-arched trajectory. Large mortars were used against fortifications and in siege operations from medieval times through World War I. Since 1915, small portable models have been standard infantry weapons, especially for mountain or trench warfare. Medium mortars, with a caliber of about 3–4 in. (70–90 mm), a range of up to about 2.5 mi (4 km), and a bomb weight of up to 11 lbs (5 kg), are now widely used.

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mortar

Material used in building construction to bond brick, stone, tile, or concrete blocks into a structure. The ancient Romans are credited with its invention. Mortar consists of sand mixed with cement and water. The resulting substance must be sufficiently flexible to flow slightly but not collapse under the weight of the masonry units. Before the 19th-century invention of portland cement, masons used thin joints of lime mortar, which required greater precision than the thicker joints of portland-cement mortar and were not as strong. For tilework, a very thin mortar called grout is used. Pointing is the process of finishing a masonry joint.