CE415

Construction Materials and Testing

LABORATORY REPORT
EXPERIMENT 2
DETERMINATION OF WATER CONTENT OF AGGREGATES

PREPARED BY SUBMITTED TO

EXPERIMENT PERFORMED REPORT SUBMITTED

OBJECTIVE(S)

▪ To be able to determine the moisture content in a given sample of aggregates.

INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES

▪ To know how to get the moisture content of the given sample of aggregates.

DISCUSSION

Water or moisture content is the amount of water contained in an aggregate. It is important to

determine the varying moisture contained on aggregates as it is one of the major causes of
inconsistency in batching concrete from one batch to another. Moisture content can have a
dramatic effect on the concrete compressive strength and durability because it has a great
influence on the water ratio.

MATERIALS/EQUIPMENT USED

• Cans
• Spatula
• Weighing Scale
• Oven
• Aggregates Sample

PROCEDURES

1. Weigh the can using the weighing scale and record its mass.
2. Using the spatula, retrieve a sample from the actual aggregates and put it in the can. Weigh
the sample along with the can and record their mass.

3. Place the sample in the oven. After at least 24 hours, record the mass of the sample every
hour until no change in mass occurs. This signifies that the sample is already in oven dry
condition.

4. Weigh the oven dried sample and record the mass.

5. Determine the moisture content of the representative aggregate sample using the formula:

DATA AND RESULTS

A measured moisture content that is less than the absorption capacity indicates the aggregate is
dryer than the ideal saturated surface dry state, meaning its pores may be only partially full. A
calculated amount of additional mix water will need to be added during batching to maintain
the required quantity of raw materials and to achieve the expected yield.

RECOMMENDATION:

The fine and coarse aggregates that are taken from different areas have their respective moisture
content. So, it is important to determine the moisture content of aggregates prior to mixing
because it affects the proportions of mix water needed to achieve the desired water needed to
achieve the desired water cementitious materials ratio.