3/12/2019 5 COMMON FIELD TESTS ON AGGREGATE TO CHECK ITS QUALITY - CivilBlog.

Org

NOW TRENDING: BULKING OF FINE AGGREGAT... HOW TO MINIMISE THE DEFE... SPLITTING TENSILE STRENG...

HOW BEAM COLUMN JOINTS R...

CIVILBLOG.ORG
ABOUT ▼ MATERIALS ▼ GEOTECHNICAL ▼ CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION ▼

VIDEO LECTURES

5 COMMON FIELD TESTS ON Search the site 

AGGREGATE TO CHECK ITS

QUALITY
Suryakanta | July 6, 2015 | Aggregate, Materials, Tests On Aggregate | 9
SUBSCRIBE TO BLOG
VIA EMAIL
Comments
Enter your email and receive new
Aggregates influence the properties of concrete/mortar such as water posts.
requirement, cohesiveness and workability of the concrete in plastic stage,
Email Address
while they influence strength, density, durability, permeability, surface
finish and colour in hardened stage. Subscribe

FIELD TESTS FOR AGGREGATE

BULKING OF SAND – A
1. SURFACE MOISTURE CONTENT & COMPLETE GUIDE

ABSORPTION
The surface moisture in the aggregate, influences the water cement ratio,
strength and durability of the mix. To determine the surface moisture of
moist or wet aggregate, method is as follows-

FRYING PAN METHOD 00:00 00:00

The following apparatus are required:

JOIN US ON FACEBOOK
A frying pan or metal tray,
Gas stove or an electric hair dryer,
A metal or glass stirring rod and

https://civilblog.org/2015/07/06/5-common-field-tests-on-aggregate-to-check-its-quality/ 1/9
3/12/2019 5 COMMON FIELD TESTS ON AGGREGATE TO CHECK ITS QUALITY - CivilBlog.Org

Scales to measures.

The following procedure is followed during the test

1. For coarse aggregate 2 kg sample is adequate and for fine aggregate

0.5 kg sample is adequate.
2. The wet/moist sample is then weighed wet weight (W)
3. Heated very gently on the frying pan or metal plate and stirred with a
glass or metallic rod to maintain uniform distribution of heat, until the
sheen disappears from the surface. The fine aggregates become
surface dry when it just starts showing free flowing characteristics.
4. The aggregates is then cooled and reweighed. The surface dry
aggregate weight (Wsd) is noted. The surface moisture is then
calculated as follows-

Surface moisture = [(W – Wsd) / Wsd] x 100%

5. Overheating must be avoided, as it will not give the correct surface

moisture.
6. If heating is continued either on the fry pan or in the oven till the
aggregate is bone dry aggregate weight is then noted (Wbd) after
continuous heating. The absorption (absorbed water content) is then
calculated as follows-

Absorption = [(Wsd – Wbd) / Wbd] x 100%

Similarly, if the dry aggregates are received on site and absorption

capacity is to be determined then the aggregates are first soaked in water
and then the above methods are deployed to determine the absorption
capacity of aggregates.

2. SILT CONTENT TEST FOR SAND

https://civilblog.org/2015/07/06/5-common-field-tests-on-aggregate-to-check-its-quality/ 2/9
3/12/2019 5 COMMON FIELD TESTS ON AGGREGATE TO CHECK ITS QUALITY - CivilBlog.Org

Silt content test

The permissible silt content in sand (fine aggregate) must not exceed the
values as specified in the standards. However, this method can only be
used for natural sand, it should not be used for crushed rock sand.

The apparatus required for this test is only 250 ml glass measuring
cylinder.

The silt content determination by volume is done in the following manner:

1. The glass cylinder is filled with salt-water solution (concentration of

the solution will teaspoon full of common salt for every 570 ml) upto
50 ml mark.
2. Add sand until the level of the sand is upto 100 ml mark.
3. Add further salt-water solution till 150 ml mark is reached.
4. Place the palm on the mouth of the glass cylinder and shake it
vigorously.
5. Place the cylinder on hard levelled surface and tap it all round so that
sand is leveled.
6. Wait for three hours for silt to settle on top of sand.
7. Measure the thickness of the silt layer and the height of the sand. The
silt content can be calculated as follows:
https://civilblog.org/2015/07/06/5-common-field-tests-on-aggregate-to-check-its-quality/ 3/9
3/12/2019 5 COMMON FIELD TESTS ON AGGREGATE TO CHECK ITS QUALITY - CivilBlog.Org

Silt (%) by volume = [(Thickness of silt layer/ Height of sand + Silt) x

100 %]

If silt content by weight exceeds 3% then washing of sand is necessary.

After conducting few tests, a co-relation can be developed for silt layer
thicknesses at various intervals of time. The silt content at 10 minutes can
be fixed as inspection criteria.

3. BULKING OF SAND
When sand is damp, the water coating on the surface of each sand particle
causes separation of particles from one another due to surface tension.
This causes sand to bulk. Bulked sand occupies more volume and hence if
volumetric measuring is done while proportioning it, bulking correction is
necessary.

The bulking test is done as follows:

1. The sand is filled, in loose condition in a box of measured height (H

cm).
2. The box is then flooded with water and rodding is done to make the
sand settle and consolidate. Care should be taken that sand does not
overflow during the flooding and compaction.
3. The sand is then leveled in the box and the drop in height is measured
(h cm).
4. Bulking is calculated as: Bulking % = h/H x 100%

Dry sand occupies the same volume as fully saturated sand. The bulking
will vary from load to load and day to day depending on the fineness of
sand and its surface moisture content. It is there-fore, very essential to
make bulking corrections by checking the actual bulking of sand proposed
to be used by volumetric batching for mortar or concrete.

Moisture contents %age by wt. Bulking % by volume

2 15

3 20

4 25

5 30

4. SIEVE ANALYSIS

https://civilblog.org/2015/07/06/5-common-field-tests-on-aggregate-to-check-its-quality/ 4/9
3/12/2019 5 COMMON FIELD TESTS ON AGGREGATE TO CHECK ITS QUALITY - CivilBlog.Org

Sieve analysis is done to check the gradation of aggregate. The test is done
as follow.

1. Take required amount of aggregate sample (for coarse aggregate take

apprx. 2.5 kg and for fine aggregate take 0.5 kg)
2. Arrange the required no of sieves as per the contract or job
requirement in an descending manner. (i.e. keep the sieve having
largest size opening at the top and the smallest size opening at the
bottom)
3. Shake vigorously the sieve set for at least 2 minute.
4. Then measure the weight of aggregate on each sieve and express it as
the percentage of passing.

Now compare these values with the recommended values to know

whether it falls within the range or not. If not falling within the desired
gradation then take necessary action.

Grading limit of coarse aggregate and fine aggregate is given below for
reference.

Grading Limit of Coarse Aggregate

https://civilblog.org/2015/07/06/5-common-field-tests-on-aggregate-to-check-its-quality/ 5/9
3/12/2019 5 COMMON FIELD TESTS ON AGGREGATE TO CHECK ITS QUALITY - CivilBlog.Org

Grading Limit of Fine Aggregate

This test is done initially for concrete mix design and later conducted
periodically for mix proportion adjustments if it is suspected that the
grading of aggregates has changed considerably.

5. 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.

1. Sieve the aggregate using the appropriate sieves (80 mm, 40 mm, 20
mm, 10 mm, 4.75 mm, 2.36 mm, 1.18 mm, 600 micron, 300 micron &
150 micron)
2. Record the weight of aggregate retained on each sieve.
3. Calculate the cumulative weight of aggregate retained on each sieve.
4. Calculate the cumulative percentage of aggregate retained.
5. Add the cumulative weight of aggregate retained and divide the sum
by 100. This value is termed as fineness modulus

https://civilblog.org/2015/07/06/5-common-field-tests-on-aggregate-to-check-its-quality/ 6/9
3/12/2019 5 COMMON FIELD TESTS ON AGGREGATE TO CHECK ITS QUALITY - CivilBlog.Org

Compare the test value with the values given in the following table and
you can get an idea about how coarse or fine the sand is.

Only sand between FM 2.6 to 2.9 is considered suitable for nominal mix
proportion.

Type of Sand Fineness Modulus Value

Very fine sand Below 2.2

Fine sand 2.2 to 2.6

Medium sand 2.6 to 2.9

Coarse sand 2.9 to 3.2

Very coarse sand Above 3.2

SHARE THIS:

 Email  Print  More

Tags: Aggregate Test, Field tests

RELATED POSTS
FIRE RESISTING DETERMINATION OF
PROPERTIES OF BITUMEN CONTENT IN
COMMON BUILDING THE BITUMINOUS MIX
MATERIALS 6 Comments | May 17, 2015
7 Comments | Jul 27, 2017

FINENESS OF CEMENT WHAT IS BLEEDING IN

BY DRY SIEVING CONCRETE AND HOW
(IS:4031-PART 1-1996) IT AFFECTS CONCRETE?
8 Comments | May 2, 2013 12 Comments | Apr 7, 2014

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Suryakanta
Geotechnical-Material Engineer. You can
connect me on Google +. To know more about
me just visit AboutMe

https://civilblog.org/2015/07/06/5-common-field-tests-on-aggregate-to-check-its-quality/ 7/9
3/12/2019 5 COMMON FIELD TESTS ON AGGREGATE TO CHECK ITS QUALITY - CivilBlog.Org

9 COMMENTS

Umang Varshney February 25, 2019 Reply

valuable information

umang October 30, 2018 Reply

valuable information

Umang August 30, 2018 Reply

valuable information

RAJIV February 21, 2018 Reply

Thanking you

Himanshu May 24, 2017 Reply

Nice content.
Can you please tell me the difference between bulking and
bulging?

Mallikarjun November 23, 2016 Reply

Thank you

UMANG VARSHNEY March 9, 2016 Reply

VALUABLE INFORMATION!!!

https://civilblog.org/2015/07/06/5-common-field-tests-on-aggregate-to-check-its-quality/ 8/9
3/12/2019 5 COMMON FIELD TESTS ON AGGREGATE TO CHECK ITS QUALITY - CivilBlog.Org

divya.s March 2, 2016 Reply

very good and very useful.

vivek kumar singh February 29, 2016 Reply

So on the test of aggregate ;it is very perfect test of five so

on it is the help of five mathod to test of aggregate

ADD A COMMENT

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are

marked *

Comment:*

Notify me of follow-up comments via e-mail address

Name:*

Email Address:*

Website:

https://civilblog.org/2015/07/06/5-common-field-tests-on-aggregate-to-check-its-quality/ 9/9