-:Summary

The size of aggregate particles and the distribution of

aggregate must be determine before making any concrete mix,
to use it in the right way.
So we make sieve analysis, to have enough information
about the sizes and size distribution for a random sample of
aggregate, and use to determine the aggregate grading for the
.whole amount

-:Object
By this test we will be familiar with the sieve analysis
for aggregates (fine and course aggregates), to use it in the
.Appropriate mix of concrete

-:Preliminary Remarks
If we have a good aggregate grading we will have good
concrete mix with good compacting and with small ratio of
voids within the concrete which will increase the strength of
.concrete

Test specimens:1- 2 kg of course aggregate.

2- 1 kg of fine aggregate.

-:Test apparatus
.Weighting device -1
sieves: we use different sizes of sieves in this -2
Experiment for fine and course aggregate as
:Next

:a) Course aggregate sieves

.in sieve 1 -1
in sieve 3/4 -2
.
in sieve 1/2 -3
.
.in sieve 1/4 -4
.no. 4 sieve -5
:b) Fine aggregate sieves
.no. 4 sieve -1
.no. 8 sieve-2
.no. 16 sieve-3
.no. 30 sieve-4
.no. 50 sieve-5
.no. 100 sieve-6
.no. 200 sieve-8
Pan -3
.Mechanical sieve shaker -4

Test procedure:1- Course aggregate sieve analysis:

a) We first take a sample about 2 kg of course
aggregate.
b) We weight the pan and the course sieves separately
and record there weights.
c) Then we put the pan in the shaker and the sieves over
it in ascending order( no.41/4in1/2in3/4in 1in)
d) Then we put the sample in the companied sieves and
turn on the shaker for 15 min.
e) After that we get out each sieve and weight it with
the retained amount in it until the pan.
2- Fine aggregate sieve analysis:
a) We take a sample of fine aggregate about 1 kg.
b) As before we weight every sieve separately.

c) Then we put the pan and sieves above it in ascending

order (no.200no.100no.50no.30no.16no.8no.4).
d) We do as steps (d+e) above.

Test results:

The fineness modulus (F.M) = (280.02/100)=2.08.

The nominal size (sieve no.100).
The maximum size (sieve no.200).
You can see results in graphs and tables in appendix.

Discussion:Because we know that aggregate grading is important, we

have made a sieve analysis for two samples, fine and coarse
aggregate.
In the course sample for all the groups we have use two
standard sieves(3/4,no.4) so as you can see that at the
standard sieves it accompanies the ASTM but in other sieves it
have the most of the retained amount(1/2,3/8).
But in the fine sample we face a big problem which that we
find that the weight of (sieve+material) is smaller than the
weight of the sieve empty because of human error in reading
the weight so we approximate two of readings as follow
according to other groups readings as follow (1.1141.168,
1.0641.130) at sieves no.4 and no.8, after that approximation
we find that the readings accompanies with the ASTM as we
see in graph (1).
The fineness modulus (F.M) results is about (2.8), knowing
that the standard F.M is about in the range 2.3-3.1, it gives an
indication that our sample we told us that our sample is exactly
fine aggregate.

The errors in this experiment can be summarized as the

following:

1.) Human errors in weighting the retained amounts on sieves.

2.) We have some loss of the sample which sticks in the sieves.
3.) Errors in calculations and drawing the graphs and getting
Results.

Conclusion:1.) Sieve analysis is a method used to determine the grading of

the aggregate sample according to ASTM.
2.) Well-graded aggregate is required to produce a good mix
of concrete, because this will give us a small amount of
voids ratio.
3.) We use the fineness modulus for fine aggregate only, and it
gives us information for the aggregate grading; so as F.M is
higher, the sample is coarser.

Appendix
(Table1-course samples for groups (A+D) )

Sieve
1
(3/4)
(1/2)
(1/4)
no.4
pan

Sieve+mat.
wt.(KG)
1.328
1.19
1.878
2.329
1.202
0.89

Sieve+mat. wt.
(KG)
avg.(KG)
1.328
1.328
1.227
1208.5
1.561
1719.5
2.658
2493.5
1.169
1185.5
0.879
884.5

(Table 2-AVG. course aggregate for group (A+D))

Sieve
1
(3/4)
(1/2)
(1/4)
no.4
pan

sieve wt.
(KG)
1.328
1.176
1.162
1.144
1.134
0.878

avg.(KG)
1.328
1208.5
1719.5
2493.5
1185.5
884.5

weight
ret.(g)
0
32.5
557.5
1349.5
51.5
6.5

ret.%
0
1.63
28
67.5
2.5
0.32

cum.
Ret.%
0
1.63
29.63
97.13
99.63
99.95

(Table 3-fine samples for groups (B+C+D) respectively )

Sieve
no.4
no.8
no.16
no.30
no.50
no.100
no.200
pan

Sieve+mat.
wt.(KG)
1.166
1.128
1.001
1.106
1.043
0.975
1.056
0.963

sieve+mat
wt.(KG)
1.168
1.13
0.997
1.116
1.06
1.13
0.947
0.904

1 :( this value is approximate number)

Sieve+mat.
wt.(KG)
1.162
1.129
1.003
1.094
1.041
0.983
0.965
0.913

avg.(KG)
1.165
1.129
0.998
1.105
1.048
1.029
0.989
0.926

Cum.
Pas. %
100
98.37
70.37
2.87
0.37
0.05

(Table 4-fine sample passing for groups (B+C+D) respectively)

Sieve avg.(KG)
no.4
1.165
no.8
1.129
no.16
0.998
no.30
1.105
no.50
1.048
no.100
1.029
no.200 0.989
pan
0.926

weight
ret.(g)
9
7
108
190.3
182
222.3
167
104

ret.%
0.9
0.71
10.9
19.2
18.4
22.4
16.8
10.5

cum.
Ret.%
0
0.71
11.61
30.81
49.21
71.61
88.41
98.91

Cum.
Pas. %
100
99.29
88.39
69.19
50.79
28.39
11.59
1.09

(Graph 1- Fine sample passing% for group C)

(Graph 2-course AVG. sample passing %)

(Graph 3-fine AVG. sample passing %)