FINE AGGREGATES

FINE AGGREGATES
AGGREGATES

▶ Aggregates are inert granular materials such as sand, gravel or

crushed stone

▶ Aggregates, which account for 60-75 percent of the total volume of

concrete, are divided into two distinct categories-Fine and Coarse
Aggregate Processing

▶ Excavation – the removal is

carried out through the use of
power shovels, draglines, or
scrapers.
Aggregate Processing

▶ Transportation - After the

aggregate is excavated, it is
transported by rail, truck or
conveyor belt to the
processing plant.
Aggregate Processing

▶ Washing - Deleterious materials

(clay, mud, leaves, etc.) are
removed.
Aggregate Processing

▶ Crushing - Reduce the size of

the stone or gravel. Usual
practice is to reduce the size of
the rock at a ratio of 1:6 or
less.

Primary Crusher
Aggregate Processing

▶ Crushing - Reduce the size of

the stone or gravel. Usual
practice is to reduce the size
of the rock at a ratio of 1:6
or less.

Secondary Crusher
Aggregate Processing

▶ Sizing - Sieves are used

for coarse material and
hydraulic classification
for fine material
FINE AGGREGATES

▶ Fine aggregate is natural sand which has been washed and sieved to
remove particles larger than 2mm base on MIT, USDA, and AASHTO and
4.75mm for USCS.
Fine Aggregate may be described more clearly according to their
availability

▶ Natural sand- it is the aggregate resulting from natural disintegration of

rock and which has been deposited by streams or glacial agencies.
▶ Crushed stone Sand – it is the fine aggregate produced by crushing hard
stone.
▶ Crushed gravel sand- It is the fine aggregate produced by crushing natural
gravel.
Criteria to classify fine aggregates
are:

▶ If they are natural/man-made.

▶ According to their size
Main Uses of the Fine aggregates are
as follows

▶ When high performance concrete is required where the strength of the

aggregate, fine aggregate is needed so that there is no weakness in the structure
▶ Fine aggregates contribute the maximum to the covering up of surface area in
concrete.
▶ Increases the volume of concrete, thus reduces the cost
▶ Influence hardness, abrasion resistance, elastic modulus and other properties of
concrete to make it more durable, strong and cheaper.
▶ Provide dimensional stability
Specifications of Using the Fine
Aggregates

▶ The general requirements of the fine aggregates are:

▶The fine aggregate should consist of natural sand or, according to the
specifications, other inert materials with similar characteristics, or
combinations having hard, strong, durable particles.
▶Fine aggregates from different sources should not be mixed or stored
in the same pile nor used alternately in the same class of construction
or mix, without permission from the Engineer.
▶Soundness
▶a test that is used to
determine the resistance of
aggregates to disintegrate by
saturated solutions of sodium
sulphate or magnesium
sulphate.

▶Organic Impurities Test

▶is a widely used, simple
procedure to determine
presence of organic compounds
in fine aggreagates.
Grading
is one which is made
up of stones of
different sizes,
ranging from large to
small(inclusive of
sand) so as to have
minimum of air voids (
and that will have
maximum density)
when mixed together.
▶ Uniformity of Grading
▶For the purpose of determining the degree of uniformity, a Fineness
Modulus (FM) is made upon representative samples from sources proposed
for use. Fine aggregates from any source shall maintain a fineness
modulus within ±0.2 from the design mix fineness modulus. If the fineness
modulus falls outside this limit a new or adjusted design mix may be
provided.
▶What is Fineness Modulus of Sand( fine aggregate)? 

is an index number which represents the mean size of the particles in
sand. It is calculated by performing sieve analysis with standard sieves.

Apparatus needed for determination of Fineness Modulus of Sand:

Standard Sieves

Mechanical Shaker(optional)

Dry Oven

Digital Weight Scale
Sample preparation:

Take a sample of fine aggregate in pan and placed it in dry
oven at a temperature of 100 - 110 °C. Let us just say the dry
weight of sample = 1000 g.
 Sieve Size (mm)

▶ 30 + 120 = 150

Weight Cumulative cumulative
150 + 150 = 300

300 + 200 = 500
 Sieve Size (mm) Retained Weight percentage weight
500 + 320 = 820
 (g) Retained (g) retained (%)
820 + 150 = 970

10 0 0 0

WEIGHT OF AGGREGATE IN 4.75 30 30 03

EACH SIEVE
2.36 120 150 15
1.18 150 300 30

▶ (30/1000)(100) = 03
 0.6 200 500 50

(150/1000)(100) = 15

(300/1000)(100) = 30
 0.3 320 820 82
(500/1000)(100) = 50

(820/1000)(100) = 82
 0.15 150 970 97
(970/1000)(100) = 97
Pan 30 1000 ∑ = 277
 Type of Sand Fineness Modulus range

Fine Sand 2.2 - 2.6

Type of Sand
Medium sand 2.6 - 2.9

Coarse sand 2.9 - 3.2

therefore, fineness modulus of aggregate = (cumulative % retained) / 100

= 277/100

= 2.77 mm

Limits of Fineness Modulus

Fine and Coarse aggregates in
Concrete Mix

▶It is important to mix both fine and

coarse aggregate in concrete as coarse
aggregate cannot cover the surface area
in the manner that fine aggregate does.
Source:

https://www.paperstone.com/wiki/Fine_Aggregates
https://www.bodeancompany/aggregates