Republic of the Philippines

Davao Oriental State College of Science and Technology

City of Mati, Province of Davao Oriental
INSTITUTE OF COMPUTING AND ENGINEERING

Name: Leah M. Macosang Group No.: 2 Rating: ______

Date Performed: September 21,2018 Date Submitted: September 25, 2018

EXPERIMENT NO. 1
SPECIFIC GRAVITY AND ABSORPTION OF COARSE AGGREGATES

Purpose:
To determine the Bulk Specific Gravity, Apparent Specific Gravity, and Absorption of Coarse Aggregate.

Standard Reference:
ASTM C127

Significance:
Specific gravity is generally defined as the ratio of the mass of a given volume of material to the mass of an
equal volume of water. However, several variations of this definition exist depending upon the material
considered and the purposes for which the value of specific gravity are to be used. When considering
aggregate for Portland cement concrete, the most common definition for specific gravity is based upon the
bulk volume of the individual aggregate in a saturated, surface-dry (SSD) condition. The bulk (oven-dry)
specific gravity and apparent specific gravity are used more commonly in asphalt mixtures. The solid unit
weight of an aggregate is customarily defined as the specific gravity multiplied by the unit weight of water
(62.4 pcf or 1 g/cm³) and has units of pounds per cubic foot (pcf) or grams per cubic centimeter.

Absorption capacity or absorption, represents the maximum amount of water an aggregate can absorb. It
can be determined by finding the weight of an aggregate under both SSD conditions and oven-dry
conditions. The difference in weights expressed as a percentage of the oven-dry sample weight is the
absorption capacity. Coarse aggregates are considered to be saturated surface-dry when they have been
wiped free of visible moisture films with a cloth after the aggregates have been soaked in water for a long
period of time (over 24 hours).

Equipment:
Triple-beam Balance, Wire Basket, Terry Cloth Towel, Oven

Sample:
A minimum of 4000g of aggregate retained on a No. 4 sieve that has been immersed in water at room
temperature for 24h ± 4h.

Test Procedure:
1. Determine the weight of the wire basket suspended in water.
2. Pour the aggregate into the wire basket and let it drain for a minute.
3. Pour the aggregate onto the towel and set the wire basket aside to dry.
4. Roll the aggregate in the towel until the shine disappears from the particles. At that point, the
sample will be in a saturated surface dry (SSD) state.
5. Determine the weight of the (now dry) wire basket in air.
6. Pour the SSD aggregate into the basket and determine its weight in air (B).
7. Determine the weight of the SSD aggregate suspended in water ©.
8. Obtain and weigh a container large enough to hold all the aggregates.
9. Pour the aggregate sample into the container and put it in the oven at a temperature of 110 ± 5ºC
until the aggregate has dried to a constant weight (approximately 24h).
10. Determine the weight of the oven-dry aggregate (D).
1
 11. Compute the specific gravity and absorption of the aggregate as follows:

𝐷 𝐵
Bulk Specific Gravity (dry) = Bulk Specific Gravity (SSD) =
𝐵−𝐶 𝐵−𝐶
𝐷 𝐵−𝐷
Apparent Specific Gravity (dry) = Absorption = x 100%
𝐷−𝐶 𝐷

Data:

Weight of wire basket plus SSD aggregate in air = 4.98 kg

Weight of wire basket in air = 0.98 kg

Weight of SSD aggregate in air (B) = 4.00 kg

Weight of wire basket plus SSD aggregate in water = 3.45 kg

Weight of wire basket in water = 0.85 kg

Weight of SSD aggregate in water (C) = 2.60 kg

Weight of pan plus aggregate after drying = 3.77 kg

Weight of pan after drying = 0.114 kg

Weight of aggregate after drying (D) = 3.65 kg

Computation:

𝐷
Bulk Specific Gravity (dry) =
𝐵−𝐶

3.651
=
4−2.60

= 2.61 𝑘𝑔 (𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟)

𝐷
Apparent Specific Gravity (dry) =
𝐷−𝐶

3.651
=
3.651−2.60

= 3.47 𝑘𝑔 (𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟)

𝐵
Bulk Specific Gravity (SSD) =
𝐵−𝐶

4
=
4−2.60

= 2.86 𝑘𝑔 (𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟)

2
 𝐵−𝐷
Absorption = x 100%
𝐷

4−3.651
= x 100%
3.651

= 9.56 % (𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟)

Results and Discussion:

The result using the “BSG (dry)” calculation of the aggregate is 2.61kg which is lesser compared to
“BSG (SSD) which is 2.86kg and ASG (dry) which is 3.47kg”. Focusing the result of the BSG (dry)
𝐷
calculation, we may notice that it uses 𝐵−𝐶 formula which “D” as an aggregate dried through oven toasting
divided by the difference of “B” which is the required weight of the aggregate that is 4kg and “C” which is
the weight of the aggregate in water without the wire basket. Through this formula we came up to the
𝐷
answer of 2.61kg by the help of the procedure. In contrast to the “ASG (dry)”, it uses a formula of 𝐷−𝐶
which only differs from the difference that is used to divide the weight of the numerator specified above.
The “BSG (SSD)” weighted in between the weight of the BSG (dry) and ASG (dry) which is 2.86kg. The
𝐵
formula used here is𝐵−𝐶, we can see that the numerator is “B” which is the weight required for the
aggregate. It is divided to the difference of “B” and C. The formulas cited are different because the
inevitability of the procedure used are as to be followed and the results of every data are used in different
situations, which makes the result of every calculation different. With regards to the result of the absorption
𝐵−𝐷
we noticed that the answer is in percentage. The formula used in the “Absorption calculation” is 𝐷 x
100%. Through this formula we came up to the answer of 9.56%.

3
Documentation: