AGGREGATE

• Aggregates are defined as inert, granular, and

inorganic materials that normally consist of stone
or stone -like solids.
• Aggregates can be used alone (in road bases and
various types of fill) or can be used with cementing
materials (such as Portland cement or asphalt cement)
to form composite materials or concrete.
 1. COMPOSITION
• Aggregates consisting of materials that can
react with alkalies in cement and cause
excessive expansion, cracking and
deterioration of concrete mix should never be
used.
• Therefore it is required to test aggregates to
know whether there is presence of any such
constituents in aggregate or not.
 Properties of Fine Aggregate
• Size of Fine Aggregates. Strength.
• Shape of Fine Aggregates.
• Specific Gravity.
• Surface Texture of Fine Aggregates.
• Water Absorption.
• Surface Index of Fine Aggregates. Soundness.
• Surface Moisture.
• Specific Surface of Fine Aggregates.
 2. The different shapes of aggregates are:

• Rounded – Natural
aggregates smoothed by
weathering, erosion and
attrition.
• Rocks, stone, sand and
gravel found in riverbeds
are your most common
rounded aggregates.
• Rounded aggregates are
the main factor behind
workability.
 Irregular

• Irregular – These are

also shaped by
attrition, but are not
fully rounded.
• These consist of
small stones and
gravel, and offer
reduced workability to
rounded aggregates.
 Angular
• Angular – Used for
higher strength
concrete, angular
aggregates come in
the form of crushed
rock and stone.
Workability is low,
but this can be offset
by filling voids with
rounded or smaller
aggregates.
 Flaky and elongated
• Flaky – Defined as aggregates that are thin in comparison
to length and width. Increases surface area in a concrete
mix.
• Elongated – Also adds more surface area to a mix –
meaning more cement paste is needed. Elongated
aggregates are longer than they are thick or wide.
• Flaky and elongated – A mix of the previous two – and
the least efficient form of aggregate with regards to
workability.
• These particles tend to impede compaction or break
during compaction and thus, may decrease strength.
 3. SURFACE TEXTURE of Particle
• Aggregate particle shape and surface texture are
important for proper compaction, deformation
resistance, and workability.
• Smooth and Rough texture
• The development of hard bond strength between
aggregate particles and cement paste depends upon the
surface texture, surface roughness and surface porosity
of the aggregate particles.
• If the surface is rough but porous, maximum bond
strength develops. In porous surface aggregates, the
bond strength increases due to setting of cement paste
in the pores.
 4. SPECIFIC GRAVITY
• The ratio of weight of oven dried aggregates maintained for
24 hours at a temperature of 100 to 110C, to the weight of
equal volume of water displaced by saturated dry surface
aggregate is known as specific gravity of aggregates.

• Specific gravity is a mean to decide the suitability of the

aggregate.
• Low specific gravity generally indicates porous, weak and
absorptive materials, whereas high specific gravity
indicates materials of good quality.
• Specific gravity of major aggregates falls within the range
of 2.6 to 2.9.
• Specific gravity values are also used while designing
concrete mix.
 5. BULK DENSITY
• It is defined as the weight of the aggregate required to
fill a container of unit volume. It is generally
expressed in kg/litre.
• Bulk density of aggregates depends upon the
following 3 factors.

• Degree of compaction
• Grading of aggregates
• Shape of aggregate particles
 6. VOIDS

• The empty spaces

between the aggregate
particles are known as
voids.
• The volume of void
equals the difference
between the gross
volume of the aggregate
mass and the volume
occupied by the particles
alone.
Fine Medium Larger rounded
 7. POROSITY & ABSORPTION

• The minute holes formed in rocks during

solidification of the molten magma, due to air
bubbles, are known as pores. Rocks containing pores
are called porous rocks.
• Water absorption may be defined as the difference
between the weight of very dry aggregates and the
weight of the saturated aggregates with surface dry
conditions.
• When water is added to dry and loose sand, a thin
film of water is formed around the sand particles.
• Interlocking of air in between the sand particles
and the film of water tends to push the particles
apart due to surface tension and thus increase the
volume.
• But in case of fully saturated sand the water films are
broken and the volume becomes equal to that of dry
sand.
 8. BULKING OF SAND
• It can be defined as in increase in the bulk volume of
the quantity of sand (i.e. fine aggregate) in a moist
condition over the volume of the same quantity of dry
or completely saturated sand.
• The ratio of the volume of moist sand due to the
volume of sand when dry, is called bulking factor.
• Fine sands bulk more than coarse sand
Fine Sand
 9. FINENESS MODULUS

• Fineness modulus is an empirical factor obtained by

adding the cumulative percentages of aggregate
retained on each of the standard sieves ranging from
80 mm to 150 micron and dividing this sum by
100.
• Fineness modulus is generally used to get an idea of
how coarse or fine the aggregate is.
• More fineness modulus value indicates that the
aggregate is coarser and small value of fineness
modulus indicates that the aggregate is finer.
 10. SPECIFIC SURFACE OF AGGREGATE

• The surface area per unit weight of the material is

termed as specific surface.
• This is an indirect measure of the aggregate grading.
Specific surface increases with the reduction in the
size of aggregate particle.
• The specific surface area of the fine aggregate is very
much more than that of coarse aggregate.
 11. DELETERIOUS MATERIALS

• Aggregates should not contain any harmful material in

such a quantity so as to affect the strength and durability
of the concrete.
• Such harmful materials are called deleterious materials.
Deleterious materials may cause one of the following
effects

• To interfere hydration of cement

• To prevent development of proper bond
• To reduce strength and durability
• To modify setting times
 Deleterious materials generally found in aggregates,
may be grouped as under

• Organic impurities
• Clay , silt & dust
• Salt contamination
• Deleterious materials are essentially the same as those
found in coarse aggregates consisting of clay lumps,
shale, soft, friable, or laminated particles, vegetable
matter, or other objectionable material.
 12. CRUSHING VALUE

• The aggregates crushing value gives a relative

measure of resistance of an aggregate to crushing
under gradually applied compressive load.
• The aggregate crushing strength value is a useful
factor to know the behaviour of aggregates when
subjected to compressive loads.
 13. IMPACT VALUE

• The aggregate impact value gives a relative measure

of the resistance of an aggregate to sudden shock or
impact.
• The impact value of an aggregate is sometime used
as an alternative to its crushing value.
 14. ABRASION VALUE OF AGGREGATES

• The abrasion value gives a relative measure of

resistance of an aggregate to wear when it is rotated
in a cylinder along with some abrasive charge.
 SIEVE ANALYSIS:-

• Sieve analysis is a technique used to determine the

particle size distribution of a powder.
• This method is performed by sifting a powder sample
through a stack of wire mesh sieves, separating it into
discrete size ranges.
• A sieve shaker is used to vibrate the sieve stack for a
specific period of time.
• Sieve analysis is important for analyzing materials
because particle size distribution can affect a wide
range of properties, such as the strength of concrete,
the solubility of a mixture, surface area properties and
even their taste.
 FINENESS MODULUS:-

• The Fineness Modulus (FM) is an empirical figure obtained by

adding the total percentage of the sample of an aggregate
retained on each of a specified series of sieves, and dividing
the sum by 100.
• 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.
The cumulative percentage retained on each sieve is added and
subtracted by 100 gives the value of fineness modulus.
• Fineness modulus is generally used to get an idea of how
coarse or fine the aggregate is. More fineness modulus value
indicates that the aggregate is coarser and small value of
fineness modulus indicates that the aggregate is finer.
• For Sand 2.2-2.6 2.9 3.2
• Coarse aggregate 12mm-10 mm -5.5-6.5
• Coarse aggregate 20-25 mm- 6.5-7.5
 THE GRADING CURVE:-

• The grading curve graphically represents the

proportion of different grain sizes which the
aggregate is composed of and which form part of the
shortcrete mix.
• It provides useful information to find out: Whether
the distribution of the different aggregate sizes is
suitable for pumping.
 GRADING OF AGGREGATES:-

• Grading of aggregates is determining the average

grain size of the aggregates before they are used in
construction.
• This is applied to both coarse and fine aggregates.
• The aggregate sample is sieved through a set of
sieves and weights retained on each sieve in
percentage terms are summed up.
 GAP GRADING AGGREGATE:-

• Gap grading is defined as a grading in which one or

more intermediate size fractions are absent.
• On a grading curve, it represents a horizontal line
over the range of sizes that are absent.
 MAXIMUM AGGREGATE SIZE:-

• Typically, coarse aggregate sizes are larger than 4.75

mm (5 mm in British code), while fine aggregates
form the portion below 4.75 mm.
• A maximum size up to 40 mm is used for coarse
aggregate in most structural applications, while for
mass concreting purposes such as dams, sizes up to
150 mm may be used.