Timothy John S.

Acosta
2007-16445

CE 121: Construction Materials Laboratory Report 1

SIEVE ANALYSIS OF FINE AND COARSE AGGREGATES

I.

Objectives:
1. To provide a plot of perfect fineness (percent passing) versus grain size
graph
2. To compute the fineness modulus using the accumulated data

II.

Experimental Procedure
A. Materials and Equipment
-

balances/ scales

sieves of numbers 1 in, 3/8 in, in, in, 4, 7, 8 ,16, 30, 40, 50,
100 and 200

oven for heating up to temperatures of 110 6 5 C

B. Methodology
1. Samples of fine and coarse aggregates were taken from the stock
outside the NHRC laboratory.
2. The samples were dried to a temperature of 110 5 C.
3. Sieves were then nested in decreasing size of their openings
starting with the largest openings at the top and the smallest at the
bottom.
4. The samples were then placed at the top of the nested sieves.
Sieving was done by segregating the samples into the different
sieves. This segregation was done by shaking/agitating the sieves.
Overload of material was prevented by splitting the samples into
two or more portions, sieving each portion individually. Then
combining the masses of the several portions retained on a specific
sieve before calculating the percentage of the sample of the sieve.

5. Sieving was done until not more than 1% by mass of the material
that was retained on any individual sieve will pass that sieve.
III.

Results

Item
Basin
Basin + Aggregate
Aggregate

Initial Measurements
Coarse
0.34 kg
5.48 kg
5.14 kg

Fine
339.3 g
1207.3 g
868 g

Table 1: Initial Measurements of Aggregate Samples

Aperture (mm)
25
19
12.5
9.5
4.76
2.38
1.18
Total

Mass of pan (kg)

0.55
0.48
0.53
0.54
0.5
0.45
0.43
3.48

Pan w/ Aggregates
0.55
1.9
3.28
1.18
0.81
0.46
0.43
8.61

Table 2: Weighted measurements for Coarse Aggregates

Aperture (mm)
4.76
2.38
1.18
0.6
0.3
0.15
0.075
Total

pan (g)

Pan + Aggregates
500.6
476.6
435.3
405.9
370.1
348.3
305.7
455.7
3298.2

500.6
514.1
555.3
624.4
673.5
502.7
335.9
459.3
4165.8

Table 3: Weighted measurements for Fine Aggregates

IV.

Sieve
1 in
3/4 in
1/2 in
3/8 in
No. 4
No. 8
Total

Discussion

Individual Mass
retained (kg)
0
1.42
2.75
0.64
0.31
0.01
5.13

Percent of
Material Retained
(%)
0
27.68031189
53.60623782
12.47563353
6.04288499
0.194931774
100

Cumulative Percent
Retained (%)
0
27.68031189
81.28654971
93.76218324
99.80506823

Percent of Materia
Passing (%)
100
72.31968811
18.71345029
6.237816764
0.194931774
0

302.5341131

Table 4: Sieve Analysis for Coarse Aggregates

As shown in the table above, the individual mass retained was
computed for each sieve number. After computing the total masses, the
percent of material retained could be computed, this leads eventually to
the cumulative percent of material retained. This allows us to compute for
the fineness modulus of the aggregate. This computation of the fineness
modulus was taken from ASTM C136.
302.5341131 / 100 = 3.0253

Figure 1: Perfect Fineness vs. Grain Size for Coarse Aggregates

As we can see from the graph above, we have a steep slope between
sieve numbers in and in. This shows us that sample taken out of the
stock is not evenly distributed in terms of grain size.

Sieve
No. 4
No. 7
No. 16
No. 30
No. 50
No. 100
No. 200
Pan
Total

Individual Mass
retained
0
37.5
120
218.5
303.4
154.4
30.2
3.6
867.6

Percent of
Material Retained
0
4.322268326
13.83125864
25.18441678
34.97003227
17.79621946
3.480866759

Cumulative Percent
Retained
0
4.322268326
18.15352697
43.33794375
78.30797603
96.10419548
99.58506224

Percent of Material P
100
95.67773167
81.84647303
56.66205625
21.69202397
3.895804518
0.414937759

339.8109728

Table 5: Sieve Analysis for Fine Aggregates

Using the same analysis for the coarse aggregates, the fineness
modulus is computed as:
339.8109728 / 100 = 3.398

Figure 2: Perfect Fineness vs. Grain Size for Fine Aggregates

As shown in the graph above for fine aggregates, we can see that the
grading is more distributed to the sieve numbers 16, 30 and 50. This
shows an almost evenly distributed sample taken from a stock.
V.

Conclusions
Therefore, it is concluded based on the experiment and
computations, a fineness modulus of 3.0253 for the coarse aggregate
sample and 3.398 for the fine aggregate sample.

VI.

References

Reducing field sample of aggregate to test sample (ASTM C702,

D75)

Sieve analysis of coarse aggregate (ASTM C136)

Sieve analysis of fine aggregate (ASTM C136)