TESTING OF

AGGREGATES
AGGREGATES
Granular material ingredients of concrete and
bituminous mixes. Aggregates may be divided
generally into:
Fine Aggregates
Coarse Aggregates
FINE AGGREGATES
It include the natural and manufactured sand
and some crushed stone with most particles
passes through a 3/8 inch sieve
COURSE AGGREGATES
It includes gravel and crushed rock generally
range between 3/8 to 1.5 inches in diameter
For proper selection of aggregates consideration
should be given to such characteristics as
Size
Strength
Durability
Cleanliness or Freedom for dirt
COMMON TESTS MADE TO EVALUATE
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF
AGGREGATES

Unit Weight Absorption

Specific Gravity Sieve Analysis
UNIT WEIGHT
Also known as Specific Weight. It is the weight
per unit volume of a material
 LOOSE COMPACT
Container + Sample, lb 65 65.5 69 70
Container, lb 21 21
Sample, lb 44 44.5 48 49
Volume of Container, cu. 0.5 0.5
ft.
SPECIFIC GRAVITY
It is defined as the ratio of density of
material with respect to the density of water
SPECIFIC GRAVITY FOR
FINE AGGREGATES

W1 = Wt in air of saturated surface-dry sample

W2 = Wt of Pycnometer filled with water
W3 = Wt of Pycnometer, water, sample in bottle
SPECIFIC GRAVITY FOR
COARSE AGGREGATES

W1 = Wt in air of saturated surface-dry sample

W2 = Wt of sample in water
ABSORPTION
It is a condition where water is taken from the
substance
ABSORPTION FOR FINE AND
COARSE AGGREGATES

W0 = Wt in air of oven-dry sample

W1 = Wt in air of saturated surface-dry sample
 FINE AGGREGATES COARSE AGGREGATES
Sample, O.D. in air = 480.1 Sample, O.D. in air = 1962. 8

Sample, SSD in air = 500.0 Sample, SSD in air = 2000.0

Pyc + Water = 1187.5 Sample in Water = 1249.3

Pyc + Water + Sample = 1493.1 S.G. =

S.G. = Absorption =

Absorption =
SIEVE ANALYSIS
Particle-size distribution of aggregates
 SIEVE NO. WEIGHT RETAINED PERCENTAGE CUMMULATIVE
RETAINED PERCENTAGE
RETAINED
4 26
8 50
16 159
30 411
50 231
100 109
PAN 10

TOTAL SUM =
 SIEVE NO. WEIGHT RETAINED PERCENTAGE CUMMULATIVE
RETAINED PERCENTAGE
RETAINED
4 26 3 3
8 50 5 8
16 159 16 24
30 411 41 65
50 231 23 88
100 109 11 99
PAN 10 1 100

TOTAL SUM = 995 g

FINENESS MODULUS

An empirical figure obtained by adding the

total percentage of the sample of an
aggregate retained on each sieve and dividing
the sum by 100.
FINENESS MODULUS FOR FINE AGGREGATES

FM = 2.00 – 4.00
FINENESS MODULUS FOR COARSE AGGREGATES

FM = 6.50 – 8.00
THE END