DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINNERING

AGGREGATES

Aggregates
Aggregates are inert materials mixed with binding material
like cement, lime or mud in the preparation of mortar or concrete.
Aggregates are the most mined material in the world. These shall consists of
naturally occurring stones, gravel and sand and shall be hard, strong, dense,
durable, clear and free from veins, adherent coating and injurious amount of
disintegrated pieces and deleterious substances. Aggregates shall not
contain in excess harmful materials such as pyrites, laminated material,
alkali, sea shells, organic impurities and those which may attack the
reinforcement. Aggregates shall not be chemically reactive with alkali of
cement. Due to the relatively high hydraulic conductivity value as compared
to most soils, aggregates are widely used in drainage applications such as
foundation and French drains, septic drain fields, retaining wall drains, and
road side edge drains. Aggregates are also used as base material under
foundations, roads, and railroads. In other words, aggregates are used as a
stable foundation or road/rail base with predictable, uniform properties (e.g.
to help prevent differential settling under the road or building), or as a low-
cost extender that binds with more expensive cement or asphalt to form
concrete.

Aggregates Classification
Aggregates are classified as under

o Fine Aggregates
o Coarse Aggregates
o Cyclopean Aggregates

(1) FINE AGGREGATES

Particles of fine aggregates ass through 4.75 mm mesh and are
entirely retained on 0.15mm mesh. Most commonly used fine

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aggregates are sand, crashed stone, ash or cinder and surkhi.

Aggregates that do not pass through 4.75 mm mesh are termed as
coarse aggregates.

a) Sand
It consists of small grains of silica and is formed by the
disintegration of rocks caused by weather. As per IS specifications No.
1542-1960 sand should have the following qualities:
(i) Sand shall be hard, durable, clean and free from adherent
coating and organic matter and shall not contain appreciable
amount of clay
(ii) Sand shall not contain harmful impurities such as iron pyrites,
alkalis, salts, coal, mica, shale etc and other material which
will affect hardening and attack reinforcement.
(iii) In natural sand or crushed gravel the amount of clay, fine slit
and fine dust should not be more than 4 percent by weight
and in crushed stone it should be not greater than 10 percent.

Generally sea sand should not be used except in making precast

piles and heavy stones for use in harbor works

b) Kids of Sand
o Pit Sand or Quarry Sand
o River Sand
o Sea Sand
(i) Pit Sand or Quarry Sand:
Pit sand is obtained by forming pits into soil from Quarries. It
consists of sharp angular grains which are free from salts. It is
coarse sand which is usually used in concreting and has reddish
yellow color normally
(ii) River Sand:
This sand is obtained from banks or beds of rivers. River sand is fine
and consists of fine rounded grains. The color of river sand is almost
white and Grayish. River sand is usually available in clean condition
and is used for plastering.
(iii) Sea Sand:
This sand is obtained from sea shores. It has fine rounded grains
and light brown color. Sea sand contains salts which attract
moisture from atmosphere. Such absorption causes dampness and
disintegration of work. Sea sand also retards setting action of
cement. Due to these reasons, sea sand is generally avoided for
engineering purposes. It is used only as a local material for
nonstructural purposes.

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(c) Crushed stone

Crushed stone or angular rock is a form of construction
aggregate, typically produced by mining a suitable rock
deposit and breaking the removed rock down to the desired
size using crushers. It is distinct from gravel which is produced
by natural processes of weathering and erosion, and typically
has a more rounded shape.

(d) Standard sand

Requirements for Indian standard sand used in testing cement
are:

o It shall be of quartz, light grey or whitish variety

o It shall be free from slit.
o It shall be angular, shape of grains approximating to spherical
form. Elongated and flattened grains being present in negligible
Quantities.
o It shall be well graded.
o It shall be free from organic impurities. Loss of weight on
extraction with hot hydrochloric acid shall not exceed 0.25%.

(e) Fly Ash

Fly ash, also known as flue-ash, is one of the residues generated
in combustion, and comprises the fine particles that rise with the
flue gases. Ash which does not rise is termed bottom ash. In an
industrial context, fly ash usually refers to ash produced during
combustion of coal. Fly ash is generally captured by electrostatic
precipitators or other particle filtration equipment before the flue
gases reach the chimneys of coal-fired power plants and
together with bottom ash removed from the bottom of the
furnace is in this case jointly known as coal ash. Depending
upon the source and makeup of the coal being burned, the
components of fly ash vary considerably, but all fly ash includes
substantial amounts of silicon dioxide (SiO 2) (both amorphous

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and crystalline) and calcium oxide (CaO), both being endemic

ingredients in many coal-bearing rock strata.

It is used as pozzolana for part replacement of cement for use

with lime as an admixture and for manufacture of Portland-
pozzolana cement confirming to IS: 1489-1967.

(f) Surkhi
Surkhi mortar is a mixture of lime, surkhi and water. It is lime
mortar in which sand has been substituted by surkhi for economy
and strength. Surkhi is finely powdered burnt clay and generally
made from slightly under burnt bricks. Good surkhi should be
perfectly clean and free from any admixture of foreign
substances and should not contain particles retained on IS sieve
No.9 more than 10% by weight surkhi like sand is largely used in
preparation mortar, concrete, plaster etc. fine slit and dust
present shall not exceed five percent by weight.

The particle size grading of surkhi for use as aggregate in lime

mortar in masonry works shall be within the limits specified in
table below as per IS: 3182-1975.

Requirements for Broken brick (Surkhi) for use in Lime Mortar

IS sieve destination Percentage

passing (By mass)

4.75mm 100

2.36m 90-100

.18mm 70-100

600 micron 40-100

300 micron 5-70

150 micron 0-15

(g) Qualities of Good Sand

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1. It should be clean and free from coatings of clay and silt.

2. It should be free from hygroscopic.
3. It should have coarse, angular, hard and sharp grains.
4. It should not contain organic matter.
5. It should be strong and durable.
6. It should be well grade.

(h)Function of Sand in Mortar

1. Sand s mainly used as an inert material to give volume in mortar for economy.

2. It subdivides cementing material into a thin film which is the principle of using
all cementing material.

3. It offers requisite surface area for film of cementing material to adhere and
spread.

4. Prevents shrinkage and cracking of mortar.

5. Well graded sand provides density.

6. It allows CO2 to enter in some depth in case fat lime mortar and increase
setting power.

7. Some chemical reaction takes place between silica of sand grain and other
cementing material.

(I)Bulking of Sand
Bulking of sand means increase in its volume due to presence
of surface moisture. The volume increases with increase in
moisture content. The volume may increase up to 20 to 40%
when moisture content is 5 to 10 %. Due to moisture in each
particle of sand, sand gets a coating of water due to surface
tension which keeps the particles apart. This causes an

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increment in volume of sand known as Bulking.

The volume may increase up to 20 to 40% when moisture

content is 5 to 10 %
(J)TESTS FOR SAND
Sand is nearly always a constituent part of mortar and concrete.
The strength of the masonry is dependent to a considerable
extent on the qualities of the sand, and it is therefore important
that the desirable and the defective qualities should be
understood.

To check the suitability of sand being used in mortar or

concrete it may be put to the following field tests:

(1)Rub a little sand between fingers. Stains left on fingers will indicate
the presence of salts.
(2)Taste of sand shall provide a suitable check for the presence of
salts.
(3)Vigorously stir a sample of sand in a glass of water and allow it to
rest. Amount of clay or slit present in it would settle on the sand.
(4)Stir a sample of sand in a 3% solution of caustic soda and keep the
bottle corked for 24 hours. If color of liquid turns brown then the
presence of organic matter is indicated

(2)COARSE AGGREGATES
Coarse aggregate shall consist of naturally occurring materials such as
gravel, or resulting from the crushing of parent rock, to include natural
rock, slags, expanded clays and shales (lightweight aggregates) and
other approved inert materials with similar characteristics, having

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hard, strong, durable particles. Aggregates the size of whose particles

is bigger than 4.75 mm but smaller than 7.5 mm are known as Coarse
Aggregates.

Some common use Coarse Aggregates

(1) GRAVEL OR SHINGLE

Gravel is composed of unconsolidated rock fragments that have a general
particle size range and include size classes from granule- to boulder-sized
fragments. These are obtained from river beds, quarries and sea shores.
Being hard and durable these are also important for the manufacture of
concrete.

(2) Brick Ballast

Broken bricks are used as a coarse aggregate in lime concrete at
places where aggregate from natural resources is either not available
or expensive.

(3) Stone Ballast

Stones ballast used for preparing concrete should be free from
organic matter. It is used for making concrete in construction of roads
and on the railway tracks
(4) Breeze and clinker
Aggregate material obtained as by products of coal burning.
Its cheap and light.

(3)CYCLOPEAN AGGREGATES
Size of Aggregates is from 7.5 cm to 15 cm. It should satisfy the
requirements of IS: 515-1959.

(4)AGGREGATES TEST
There are many tests which are conducted to check the quality of
aggregates. Aggregates are very important component of
concrete, so the quality really matters when it comes to
aggregates. Various tests which are done on aggregates are
listed below.

1.Sieve Analysis

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2. Water Absorption

3. Aggregate Impact Value

4. Aggregate Abrasion Value

5. Aggregate Crushing Value

(1)SIEVE ANALYSIS
Sieve analysis helps to determine the particle size distribution of
the coarse and fine aggregates. This is done by sieving the
aggregates as per IS: 2386 (Part I) 1963. In this we use
different sieves as standardized by the IS code and then pass
aggregates through them and thus collect different sized
particles left over different sieves.

The apparatus used are

i) A set of IS Sieves of sizes 80mm, 63mm, 50mm,

40mm,31.5mm, 25mm, 20mm, 16mm, 12.5mm, 10mm,
6.3mm,4.75mm, 3.35mm, 2.36mm, 1.18mm, 600m, 300m,
150m and 75m.
ii) Balance or scale with an accuracy to measure 0.1 percent of
the weight of the test sample. The weight of sample available
should not be less than the weight given below:-

The sample for sieving should be prepared from the larger sample either by
quartering or by means of a sample divider.

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(2) WATER ABSORPTION

This test helps to determine the water absorption of coarse
aggregates as per IS: 2386 (Part III) 1963. For this test a sample
not less than 2000g should be used. The apparatus used for this
test are :-
Wire basket perforated, electroplated or plastic coated with
wire hangers for suspending it from the balance, Water-tight
container for suspending the basket, Dry soft absorbent cloth
75cm x 45cm (2 nos.), Shallow tray of minimum 650 sq.cm area, Air-
tight container of a capacity similar to the basket and Oven.

Procedure to determine water absorption of Aggregates.

i) The sample should be thoroughly washed to remove finer
particles and dust, drained and then placed in the wire basket
and immersed in distilled water at a temperature between 22 and
32oC.

ii) After immersion, the entrapped air should be removed by

lifting the basket and allowing it to drop 25 times in 25 seconds.
The basket and sample should remain immersed for a period of 24
+ hrs afterwards.

iii) The basket and aggregates should then be removed from the
water, allowed to drain for a few minutes, after which the
aggregates should be gently emptied from the basket on to one
of the dry clothes and gently surface-dried with the cloth,
transferring it to a second dry cloth when the first would remove
no further moisture. The aggregates should be spread on the
second cloth and exposed to the atmosphere away from direct
sunlight till it appears to be completely surface-dry. The
aggregates should be weighed (Weight A).

iv) The aggregates should then be placed in an oven at a

temperature of 100 to 110oC for 24hrs. It should then be
removed from the oven, cooled and weighed (Weight B).

Formula used is Water absorption = [(A - B)/B] x 100%.

Two such tests should be done and the individual and mean
results should be reported. A sample Performa for the record of
the test is

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(3)AGGREGATE IMPACT VALUE

This test is done to determine the aggregate impact value of
coarse aggregates as per IS: 2386 (Part IV) 1963. The apparatus
used for determining aggregate impact value of coarse
aggregates is Impact testing machine conforming to IS: 2386 (Part
IV)- 1963,IS Sieves of sizes 12.5mm, 10mm and 2.36mm, A cylindrical
metal measure of 75mm dia. and 50mm depth, A tamping rod of 10mm
circular cross section and 230mm length, rounded at one end and
Oven.

Preparation of Sample

i) The test sample should conform to the following grading: -

Passing through 12.5mm IS Sieve 100% - Retention on 10mm IS Sieve
100%

ii) The sample should be oven-dried for 4hrs. At a temperature of

100 to 110oC and cooled.

iii) The measure should be about one-third full with the prepared
aggregates and tamped with 25 strokes of the tamping rod.

A further similar quantity of aggregates should be added

and a further tamping of 25 strokes given. The measure should
finally be filled to overflow, tamped 25 times and the surplus aggregates

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struck off, using a tamping rod as a straight edge. The net weight of the
aggregates in the measure should be determined to the nearest gram (Weight A).

(4)AGGREGATE ABRASION VALUE

This test helps to determine the abrasion value of coarse

aggregates as per IS: 2386 (Part IV) 1963.

The apparatus used in this test are Los Angles abrasion testing
machine, IS Sieve of size 1.7mm, Abrasive charge 12 nos. cast
iron or steel spheres approximately 48mm dia. and each weighing
between 390 and 445g ensuring that the total weight of charge is
5000 +25g and Oven.
Sample Preparation
The test sample should consist of clean aggregates which has
been dried in an oven at 105 to 110oC to a substantially constant
weight and should conform to one of the grading shown in the
table below:

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(5)AGGREGATE CRUSHING VALUE

This test helps to determine the aggregate crushing value of

coarse aggregates as per IS: 2386 (Part IV) 1963. The apparatus
used is cylindrical measure and plunger, Compression testing
machine, IS Sieves of sizes 12.5mm, 10mm and 2.36mm

(4)HARMFUL MATERIALS
Aggregates should not contain any harmful material like
clay, organic impurities, alkali, iron, pyrites, shale, coal, mica,
soft fragments and sea shells etc, in such quantities as to impair
the strength and durability of the concrete. In case of R.C.C the
aggregate should not in addition contain any such matter that
may attack the reinforcement. Also the aggregates should not be
chemically reactive with cement

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THE END

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