What are the differences between epoxy grout, cement grout and cement mortar?

Epoxy grout consists of epoxy resin, epoxy hardener and sand/aggregates. In fact, there are various types of resin used in construction industry like epoxy, polyester, polyurethane etc. Though epoxy grout appears to imply the presence of cement material by its name, it does not contain any cement at all. On the other hand, epoxy hardener serves to initiate the hardening process of epoxy grout. It is commonly used for repairing hairline cracks and cavities in concrete structures and can be adopted as primer or bonding agent.

Cement grout is formed by mixing cement powder with water in which the ratio of cement of water is more or less similar to that of concrete. Owing to the relatively high water content, the mixing of cement with water produces a fluid suspension which can be poured under base plates or into holes. Setting and hardening are the important processes which affect the performance of cement grout. Moreover, the presence of excessive voids would also affect the strength, stiffness and permeability of grout. It is versatile in application of filling voids and gaps in structures.

Cement mortar is normally a mixture of cement, water and sand (typical proportion by weight is 1:0.4:3). It is intended that cement mortar is constructed by placing and packing rather than by pouring. They are used as bedding for concrete kerbs in roadwork. They are sometimes placed under base plates where a substantial proportion of load is designed to be transferred by the bedding to other members.

This question is taken from book named – A Self Learning Manual – Mastering Different Fields of Civil Engineering Works (VC-Q-A-Method) by Vincent T. H. CHU.

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