Abstract:

The objectives of this experiment is to determine the specific

gravity and absorption of coarse and fine aggregate
The coarse agg S.G determine by immerse C.A in water for 24 hrs
then removed and drying with absorbent cloth and w.t,after
that it place in container and determine its w.t in water ,air it in
oven then weight it .for F.A fill the pycnometer with with water
and 500of F.a then w.t ,dry in oven then w.t then calculate
BSG(dry),BSG(ssd) , ACG,and Abs% for fine and carse agg
We use astm c127 for C.A and ASTMc128 for F.A

Introduction:
The specific gravity is the ratio of weight of cretin values of
material to the weight of an equal volume of water, it is one of the
most important indicators sense it indicates to the density, pores,
void ratio, water content, and other things that is very important to
know it, since it is used in paving roads.
Generally, aggregate contains pores both permeable and
impermeable for water, these pores cause the specific gravity of
the aggregate to be different if the pores account or not, this cause
to have more than one specific gravity, like apparent specific
gravity (App.S.G), and bulk specific gravity (B.S.G) in its two
forms, saturated surface dry (SSD) and oven dry (OD) and some
others.

Summary:
There are many forms for the specific gravity (App.S.G), (B.S.G
SSD), and (B.S.G OD),For 2 samples coarse aggregate and the
other is fine aggregate. And we will calculate the absorption

Objectives:
1)
To be familiar with the specific gravity and absorption
measurements.
2)
Determination of specific gravity and absorption of a coarse
aggregate sample, where the specific gravity is in the form of
apparent specific gravity (App.S.G), or bulk specific gravity
(B.S.G), either (SSD) or (OD).
3)
Determination of specific gravity and absorption of a fine
aggregate sample, where the specific gravity is in the form of
apparent specific gravity (App.S.G), or bulk specific gravity
(B.S.G), either (SSD) or (OD).

Material used:
1)
Random sample of coarse aggregate.
2)
Random sample of fine aggregate.
3)
Balance, a weighting device that is sensitive and accurate to
0.1 g of the sample weight.
4)
Sample container (for fine aggregate), a wire basket of 3.35
mm (#6) opening (for coarse aggregate).
5)
Water tank.
6)
Tamper.
7)
A metal mold in the form of a frustum of a cone with
dimensions as follows: 403 mm inside diameter at the top, 903
mm inside diameter at the bottom, and 7.53 mm in height.
8)
Pycnometer, a flask or suitable container into which the fine
aggregates test sample can be readily introduced. A volumetric
flask of 500-cm capacity fitted with a Pycnometer top is
satisfactory for a 500 g test sample.
9)
Oven.

Laboratory work:
*Coarse aggregate.
1)
for aggregate sample: sieving and washing the dust from the
surface of rejected material passing a sieve #4.
2)
Dry the test sample to constant weight at a temperature of
1105C, cool in air. Immerse the aggregate in water at room
temperature for a period of 24 hours.
3)
Remove the test sample from the water and roll it in a large
absorbent cloth until all visible films of water are removed to
achieve the SSD condition. Wipe the larger particles individually.
Take care to avoid evaporation of water from aggregate pores
during the operation of surface drying.
4)
Weight the test sample in the air in the saturated surface dry
conditions = B.
5)
After weighting, place the saturated surface dry sample in the
sample container and determine its weight in water = C. Take care
to remove all entrapped air before weighting by shaking the
container while immersed.
6)
Dry the test sample to constant weight at a temperature of
1105C, cool in air at room temperature 1 to 3 hours, until the
aggregate is comfortable to handle, and weight it = A.
7)
Bulk specific gravity, apparent specific gravity, and absorption
can be calculated by the relationships.
*Fine aggregate.

1)
Obtain a sample of the fine aggregate passing sieve #4 that
was immersed for 24 hours.
2)
Spread the sample on a flat nonabsorbent surface exposed to
a gently moving current of warm air, and stir frequently to secure
homogenous drying. If desired mechanical aids (tumbling or
stirring) may be used to assist in achieving the saturated surface
dry condition. Continue this operation until the specimen
approaches a free-flowing condition.
3)
Cone test for surface moisture:
Hold the mold firmly on a smooth nonabsorbent surface
with the large diameter down.
Fill the cone with wet sand. Lightly tamp the fine aggregate
into the mold with 25 light drops of the tamper at a height of
about 0.5 cm.
Left the mold vertically. If surface moisture is still present,
the fine aggregate will retain the molded shape. When the
fine aggregate slumps slightly, it indicates that it has reached
a surface dry condition.
4)
Fill the pyconmeter with water until the calibration mark and
weight it = B, and then empty it.
5)
Partially fill the pyconmeter with water. Immediately introduce
into the pyconmeter 500-g of saturated surface dry fine aggregate
prepared as described above, and fill with additional water to
approximately 90% of the capacity to the calibration mark.
6)
Roll, invert and agitate the pyconmeter to eliminate all air
bubbles.
7)
Determine total weight of the pyconmeter, specimen, and
water = C.
8)
Remove the fine aggregate from the pyconmeter, dry to
constant weight at temperature of 1105C in the oven, cool in air
at room temperature for 1 hours, and weight = A.
9)
Bulk specific gravity, apparent specific gravity, and absorption
can be calculated by the relationships.

Test results:
Table 1-1: Results of coarse aggregate

Coarse
aggregate

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

WOD(g) = A
WSSD(g) = B
Wsub(g) = C
BSGOD
BSGSSD
ASG
Absorption(%)

871.9
885
536
2.49
2.53
2.595
.015

685.9
694.5
424
2.53
2.567
2.618
.0125

676.4
686.1
420
2.54
2.578
2.638
.0143

578.2
588
358
2.51
2.556
2.626
.0169

Table 2-1: Results of fine aggregate

Fine aggregate

Group 1

Group 2

Group
3

Group 4

wt. of flask+water(g) =B
wt. Of flask+water+sand(g)
=C
Wt. of sand, SSD (g)
Wt of sand, OD (g) =A
BSGOD
BSGSSD
ASG
Absorption(%)

658.12
955.6

656.35
955.32

651.86
946.9

608.17
907.8

500
472.5
2.33
2.469
2.699
0.058

500
473.8
2.357
2.487
2.71
0.0553

500

500
470.6
2.36
2.495
2.752
0.0624

471.7
2.3
2.439
2.67
0.0599

Discussion:
In this experiment, we have made the specific gravity
measurements, to measure the bulk specific gravity based on oven
dry condition, and the bulk specific gravity based on saturated
surface dry condition, and the apparent specific gravity, beside the
absorption, in two samples, fine and coarse aggregate.
The different types of specific gravity must be defined firstly to
know how to deal with them, and they can be defined as the
following:

Bulk specific gravity (SSD): the ratio of the weight in air of a

unit volume of aggregate including the weight of water within the
voids to the extent achieved by submerging in water for 24 hrs (but
not including the voids between particles) compared to the weight
in air of an equal volume of distilled water at a given temperature.

Bulk specific gravity: the

volume of distilled water at a
ratio of the weight in air of a
unit volume of aggregate
(including the permeable and
impermeable voids in the
particles, see figure 1-1, but
not including the voids
between particles) to the
weight in air of an equal

given temperature.

Apparent specific gravity: the ratio of the weight in air of a unit volume of the
impermeable portion of aggregate to the weight in air of an equal volume of distilled
water at a given temperature.

Specific gravity: the ratio of the mass (or weight in air) of a unit volume of a
material to the mass of the same volume of water at a stated temperature.

Absorption: the increase in the weight of aggregate due to water in the pores
of the material, but not including water adhering to the outside surface of the
particles, expressed as a percentage of the dry weight.
It can be seen that the results of group #1 are closed to each other, for example,
BSGSSD must be around 2.58 while it is 2.53, and it is 2.567 for group #2, and it
2.578 for group #3 ,2.556 for #4, which is somewhat good, while in fine aggregate
the results are closer to each other, for example, BSG SSD for group #1 it is 2.469,
2.487 for group #2, 2.439 for group #3, and 2.495 for group #4, which is around the
reasonable value 2.45.
Because the fine aggregate is more loss and has lower density than the coarse
aggregate, beside the fact that the coarse aggregate has lower absorption than fine
aggregate, which indicate that the fine aggregate has higher percent of voids than
the coarse aggregate so we can say by experiment and the from the results
obtained, we can see that the specific gravity in all its forms, is greater in the
coarse aggregate than fine aggregate, and this can be considered reasonable,.
On the other hand, for both samples, fine and coarse, always BSG OD is less than
BSGSSD, which is less than ASG, this is due to the fact that the BSG SSD contain
water in the permeable voids which reduce the total voids, while BSGOD dont,
while ASG is the largest one because it does not enter the permeable voids into the
accounts either it is filled with water like BSGSSD, or empty like BSGOD.
The absorption is a good indicator of the quality of the aggregate, since lower
absorption, gives better aggregate. And here it can be said that the coarse
aggregate is excellent in absorption, and the fine aggregate is good in absorption.
The errors in this experiment can be summarized as the following:
1.) The unprecise proceeding of procedure.
2.) The loss of some of the sample, especially the fine sample.
3.) The samples - fine and coarse- are not 100% representative.
4.) The existing of some entrapped air in the samples, this will give BSG and ASG
less than the actual.
5.) Human errors in taking readings of weightings, and preparing samples.
6.) Errors in calculations, and devices (balance).

Conclusion:

1)
For bulk specific gravity there are many forms used to describe any sample of
aggregate, based on the definition of each of them.
2)
BSGOD < BSGSSD < ASG
3)
The bulk specific gravity for coarse aggregate is greater then the one for fine
aggregate.
4)
Always, Absorption capacity for coarse aggregate is less than the one for fine
aggregate.

References:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)

Laboratory manual.
ASTM, C127-84,C128-84.
Concrete Technology, by A. M. Neville. & J. J. Brooks
Pavement analysis and design, by Yang H. Huang.
Lecture Notes.

Appendix
Sample of calculation, group #1.
*Coarse aggregate
BSGOD= A/(B-C) = 871.9/(885-536) = 2.49
BSGSSD= B/(B-C) = 885/(855-536)=2.53
App.SG = A/(A-c) = 871.9/(871.7-536)=2.595
Absorption (%) = (B-A)/A *100%
= (885-871.9)/536=0.015
*Fine aggregate
BSGOD = A/(B+500-C) = 4732.5/(658.12+500-955.6)=2.33
BSGSSD = 500/(B+500-C) = 2.469
ASG = A/(B+A-C) = 2.699
Absorption (%) = (500-A)/A*100%
= 0.058

Evaluation Form
Univ. of Science
& Tech.
Civil Eng. Dept.
Dr. Taisir Khedaywi

Course No. :Course Name:Topic

:- S.G

Stud Name:- yosef amro

Stud No :-

Evaluation Element

Points
Value

Points Received
1

Title Page

Abstract

Introduction

Objectives

Material Used

Laboratory Work

Result& Discussions

20

Conclusions

10

Acknowledgment

------

10 References

11 Table With Titles

12 Figures

13 Appendix

14 Spelling, Punctuation
Clearly Sentence
15 Overall Effectives &
Formatting
Total

10
10
100