Unit - I

• Reduce the cost of the concrete

• Reduce thermal cracking
• Reduces shrinkage
• Imparts unit weight to concrete

• IS: 383 – specifications for fine & coarse

aggregate from natural sources for concrete.
• IS: 2386 – methods of tests for aggregate for
concrete. 
REQUIREMENT OF GOOD AGGREGATE
• It must be clean i.e. it should be free from
lumps, organic materials etc.
• It should be strong.
• It should be durable.
• It should not react with cement after mixing.
• It should have rough surface.
• It should not absorb water more than 5%.
• It should not be soft and porous.
 AGGREGATES
• classification of aggregate- Particle shape &
texture – Bond, Strength & other mechanical
properties of aggregate- Specific gravity,
Bulk Density, porosity, absorption &
moisture content of aggregate – Bulking of
sand- Deleterious substance in aggregate-
Soundness of aggregate- Alkali aggregate
reaction –Thermal properties – Sieve
analysis – Fineness modulus –Grading curves
– Grading of fine & coarse aggregates- Gap
graded aggregate- Maximum aggregate size
 AGGREGATES
• It includes gravel, crushed stone, sand, slag,
recycled concrete and geosynthetic
aggregates.
• Natural, manufactured or recycled.
• Aggregates make up some 60 -80% of the
concrete mix.
• They provide compressive strength and bulk to
concrete.
• Aggregates are divided into either ‘coarse’ or
‘fine’ categories.
 Classification of aggregate
Classification of aggregates based on Geographical Origin
⮚ Natural
⮚ Artificial
Classification of Aggregates Based on Size
⮚ Fine aggregate
⮚ Coarse aggregate
Classification of Aggregates Based on Shape
⮚ Rounded aggregates
⮚ Irregular or partly rounded aggregates
⮚ Angular aggregates
⮚ Flaky aggregates
⮚ Elongated aggregates
Classification of aggregates based on Density
⮚ Lightweight
⮚ Normal Weight Aggregate
⮚ High density
 Geographical Origin
• Natural 
Riverbeds, quarries and mines.
Artificial  Gravels
industrial or engineering waste
Ex: Slag and burnt clay

Quarrie Slag
 Fine Aggregate
• The purpose of the fine aggregate is to fill the
voids in the coarse aggregate and to act as a
workability agent.
• < 4.75mm sieve
•  The soft deposit consisting of sand, silt and
clay is termed as loam.
ZONES Zone-1 Zone-2 Zone-3 Zone-4
Fineness
4.0-2.71 3.37-2.1 2.78-1.71 2.25-1.35
modulus
Fine aggregate sieves
 Types of Sand
• Sand (Pit Sand ,River Sand ,Sea Sand)
• Stone dust
• Cinder (Cinder is the slag from a metal furnace.)
• Surkhi (slightly under burnt bricks.)
• M Sand
Cinder

Stone dust
 Coarse aggregate

Types of coarse Aggregates

• Stone Ballast
• Gravel
• Brick Ballast

80mm,
40mm, 20mm, 10mm, 4.75mm
Gravel
Brick Ballast
Classification of Aggregates Based on Shape
⮚ Rounded aggregates
⮚ Irregular or partly rounded aggregates
⮚ Angular aggregates
⮚ Flaky aggregates
⮚ Elongated aggregates
 Rounded aggregates

• Smoothed by weathering, erosion and

attrition. (River beds, seashores)
• Minimum percentage of voids (32 –
33%) .
• More workability
• They are not considered for high strength
concrete because of poor interlocking
behavior and weak bond strength.
 Irregular or partly rounded aggregates

•  Irregular aggregates may result 35- 37%

of voids. 
• lesser workability when compared to
rounded aggregates.
• lesser workability when compared to
rounded aggregates.
 Angular aggregates

• Well defined edges, obtained by

crushing the rocks.
• Percentage of voids (38-45%) 
• Less workability.
• 10-20% more compressive strength
 Flaky aggregates

• An aggregate is termed flaky when its least

dimension (thickness) is less than three-fifth
of its mean dimension.
• The presence of these particles should be
restricted to 10 to 15%.
 Elongated aggregates

• The particles is said to

be elongated when its greatest
dimension (length) is greater than
nine-fifth of its mean dimension.
Classification of aggregates based on Density

⮚ Lightweight
⮚ Normal Weight Aggregate
⮚ High density
• The light weight aggregate having unit weight
up to 880 kg/m³
• used to manufacture the structural concrete
masonry blocks for reduction of the self weight
of the structure.
• sintering products : slag, clay, diatomite, fly ash,
shale, or slate
• natural materials : Pumice, Scoria or tuff.

Scoria
Pumice
 Normal Weight Aggregate
• Weight 2200 to 2400kg/m3.
• Specific gravities between 2.5 and 2.7
• Granite, basalt quartz, sandstone and
limestone; and brick ballast, etc.,
 High density
• These aggregates can be either natural or
synthetic.
• weight greater than 2080kg/m3. This value can go
up to 4485g/m3.
• Goethite ,Limonite ,Barite ,Ilmenite,
Magnetite ,Hematite ,Ferrophosphorus ,Steel
Applications
• Radiation Shielding Units - Nuclear
• Structures near to Explosive Units
• Used for ballasting for pipelines - Offshore
construction
Hematite Limonite
 Specific gravity
• IS 2386(Part 3):1963 
• The specific gravity of an aggregate is considered to
be a measure of strength or quality of the material.
• Aggregates having low specific gravity are generally
weaker than those with high specific gravity.
• Ranges from about 2.5 to 3.0
• Specific Gravity test of Aggregate> 6.3 mm
https://youtu.be/vj7iyj8GpmU
• Specific Gravity test of Aggregate< 6.3 mm
https://youtu.be/l6vk0EM4yPg
 Bulk Density
• Weight of aggregate that would fill a unit
volume.
• Affects the following concrete behavior:
mix design, workability, and unit weight.
https://civilblog.org/2015/01/09/how-to-test-aggregate-for-bulk-density-and-voids/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NM-i_yq8VpY
 Absorption & Moisture content
• The moisture content and absorption of
aggregates are important in calculating the
proportions of concrete mixes since any excess
water in the aggregates will be incorporated in
the cement paste and give it a higher
water/cement ratio than expected.
 Porosity
• Porosity governs specific gravity, and
determines the physical durability of
aggregates. 
 Bulking of sand
• The increase in the volume of sand due to
increase in moisture content is known
as bulking of sand.
• A film of water is created around the sand
particles which forces the particles to get a
side from each other and thus the volume is
increased.
Deleterious substance in aggregate
• Organic Impurities
• Clay
• Silt and crusher dust
• Unsound Particles
(Shale, particles with low density, clay lumps,
wood, coal, mica, gypsum, and iron pyrites are
examples of unsound particles.)
• Salts
Pop out
 Soundness of aggregate
• Soundness of aggregates is the ability of
aggregates to resist change of volume due to
change of physical condition.
• These physical conditions include freezing and
thawing, temperature change, alternative change
of drying and wetting in normal condition and
alternative change of drying and wetting in salt
water.
• The aggregates which are weak, porous and
containing undesirable materials undergo large
volume change in change of those physical
conditions.
• The aggregates which are weak, porous and
containing undesirable materials undergo
large volume change in change of those
physical conditions.
• magnesium sulphate and sodium sulphate.
• Aggregate having percentage loss less than
25% is used in road pavement.
 Fineness modulus
Fineness modulus of coarse aggregates represents the average size of the particles in the coarse aggregate

by an index number. It is calculated by performing sieve analysis with standard sieves.

https://theconstructor.org/practical-guide/fineness-modulus-of-coarse-aggregates-and-its-calculation/12472/
https://theconstructor.org/practical-guide/fineness-modulus-of-sand-calculation/12465/
 Thermal properties
• The properties of a material that determine how
it reacts when it is subjected to excessive heat.
1. Coefficient of thermal expansion.
2. Specific heat.
3. Thermal conductivity.
 Coefficient of thermal expansion.
• The linear thermal coefficient of expansion of
common rocks ranges from about 0.9 x 10±6
per °C to 16 x 10±6per °C. 
 Specific heat.
• Specific heat is the heat capacity of a material
that it absorbs to raise the temperature by
one degree Celsius.
•  Mineral properties of aggregates affect the
specific heat of concrete.
• specific heat for a normal concrete lies
between 840 to 1170 j/kg per centigrade.
 Thermal conductivity
• conductivity depends on direction of flow of
heat relative to crystal orientation. 
 GRADING OF AGGREGATE
• The particle size distribution of an aggregate as
determined by sieve analysis is termed grading
of the aggregate.
• The sieve analysis conducted for determine the
particle size distribution in a sample of
aggregate is called gradation.
• The well graded aggregate containing minimum
voids hence it required minimum paste to fill
the gap/ voids in the aggregate result in
increase economic, higher strength and greater
durability.