Fineness modulus of sand

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.

Is code for fineness modulus of sand?

The larger the value, the coarser is the material. Fine aggregate is classified as coarse sand,
medium sand and fine sand based on the fineness modulus (IS 2386 - PART III 1963) as
shown in Table 3.6. Sand having a fineness modulus more than 3.2 will be unsuitable for
making satisfactory concrete.

WHAT IS FINENESS MODULUS OF AGGREGATE?

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 of Sand

WHY TO DETERMINE 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.
 Fineness modulus of different type of sand is as per given below.
Type of Sand Fineness Modulus Range
Fine Sand 2.2 –  2.6
Medium Sand 2.6 – 2.9
Coarse Sand 2.9 – 3.2
 Generally sand having fineness modulus more than 3.2 is not used for making good
concrete.
  Fineness modulus can also be used to combine two aggregate to get the desirable
grading.

HOW TO DETERMINE FINENESS MODULUS?

Following procedure is adopted to calculate fineness modulus of aggregate.

PROCEDURE

 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)
 Record the weight of aggregate retained on each sieve.
 Calculate the cumulative weight of aggregate retained on each sieve.
 Calculate the cumulative percentage of aggregate retained.
 Add the cumulative weight of aggregate retained and divide the sum by 100. This
value is termed as fineness modulus
 Refer the following example calculation

FINENESS MODULUS OF SAND – WORKED OUT EXAMPLE

Example Calculation of Fineness Modulus of Fine Aggregate
Weight of Cumulative weight Cumulative
Sieve Size sand of sand retained percentage of sand
Retained (g) (g) retained (%)
80 mm – – –
40 mm – – –
20 mm – – –
10 mm 0 0 0
4.75 mm 10 10 2
2.36 mm 50 60 12
1.18 mm 50 110 22
600 micron 95 205 41
300 micron 175 380 76
150 micron 85 465 93
Pan 35 500
Total amount = 500 Total = 246
 
So Fineness Modulus = 246/100 = 2.46
 Young’s modulus
Young's modulus, or the Young modulus, is a mechanical property that measures
the stiffness of a solid material. It defines the relationship between stress (force per unit area)
and strain (proportional deformation) in a material in the linear elasticity regime of a uniaxial
deformation.
Young's modulus is named after the 19th-century British scientist Thomas Young; but the
concept was developed in 1727 by Leonhard Euler, and the first experiments that used the
concept of Young's modulus in its current form were performed by the Italian
scientist Giordano Riccati in 1782, pre-dating Young's work by 25 years.[1] The term modulus
is derived from the Latin root term modus which means measure.

Unit of Young moduls

Young's modulus = stress/strain = (FL0)/A(Ln − L0). This is a specific form of Hooke's law of
elasticity. The units of Young's modulus in the English system are pounds per square inch
(psi), and in the metric system newtons per square metre (N/m2).

Modulus of Elasticity
An elastic modulus (also known as modulus of elasticity) is a quantity that measures an
object or substance's resistance to being deformed elastically (i.e., non-permanently) when
a stress is applied to it. The elastic modulus of an object is defined as the slope of its stress–
strain curve in the elastic deformation region:[1] A stiffer material will have a higher elastic
modulus. An elastic modulus has the form:
where stress is the force causing the deformation divided by the area to which the force is
applied and strain is the ratio of the change in some parameter caused by the deformation to
the original value of the parameter. If stress is measured in pascals, then since strain is a
dimensionless quantity, the units of λ will be pascals as well.[2]

Specifying how stress and strain are to be measured, including directions, allows for many
types of elastic moduli to be defined. The three primary ones are:
1. Young's modulus (E) describes tensile elasticity, or the tendency of an object to deform
along an axis when opposing forces are applied along that axis; it is defined as the ratio
of tensile stress to tensile strain. It is often referred to simply as the elastic modulus.
2. The shear modulus or modulus of rigidity (G or ) describes an object's tendency to shear
(the deformation of shape at constant volume) when acted upon by opposing forces; it is
defined as shear stress over shear strain. The shear modulus is part of the derivation
of viscosity.
3. The bulk modulus (K) describes volumetric elasticity, or the tendency of an object to
deform in all directions when uniformly loaded in all directions; it is defined
as volumetric stress over volumetric strain, and is the inverse of compressibility. The bulk
modulus is an extension of Young's modulus to three dimensions.
 Modulus of Rigidity
Shear Modulus (Modulus of Rigidity) is the elasticity coefficient for shearing or torsion
force
Modulus of Rigidity - G  - (Shear Modulus) is the coefficient of elasticity for a shearing
force. It is defined as

 "the ratio of shear stress to the displacement per unit sample length (shear strain)"
Modulus of Rigidity can be experimentally determined from the slope of a stress-strain curve
created during tensile tests conducted on a sample of the material.

The definition of Modulus of Rigidity:

 the ratio of shear stress to the displacement per unit sample length (shear strain)

Modulus of Rigidity of some Common Materials

Shear Modulus
Material - G -
(106 psi) (GPa)
Aluminum Alloys 3.9 27
Aluminum, 6061-T6 3.8 24
Aluminum, 2024-T4 4.0 28
Beryllium Copper 6.9 48
Brass 5.8 40
Bronze 6.5 44.8
Cadmium 19
Carbon Steel 11.2 77
Cast Iron 5.9 41
Chromium 115
Concrete 3.0 21
Copper 6.5 45
Glass 26.2
Glass, 96% silica 2.8 19
Inconel 11.5 79
Iron, Ductile 9.1 - 9.6 63 - 66
Iron, Malleable 9.3 64

 1 GPa = 109  Pa = 0.145x106  psi (lbf/in2)

 1 x 106 psi = 6.9 GPa
 Modulus of rupture
Modulus of rupture or Fexural strength is a measure of the tensile strength of concrete
beams or slabs. Flexural strength identifies the amount of stress and force an unreinforced
concrete slab, beam or other structure can withstand such that it resists any bending failures.

Flexural strength is also known as bend strength or fracture strength.

In order to test the flexural strength of a concrete beam, its span length should be at least
three times the depth. The flexural strength is expressed as the modulus of rupture (MR) in
psi (MPa). There are two standard test methods to determine the flexural strength of a
concrete beam:

1. Center point loading test (as per ASTM C 293) – In this test method, the entire
load is applied at the center of the beam’s span length. Here the flexural strength or
modulus of rupture is higher than the modulus of rupture of the third point loading
test. The maximum stress is present only at the center of the beam.
2. Third point loading test (as per ASTM C 78) – In this test method, half the load
is applied at each third of the beam’s span length. Here the flexural strength or
modulus of rupture is lower than that of the modulus of rupture found in the center
point loading test. In this test, the maximum stress is present over the center one-
third portion of the beam.
Flexural MR is about 10% to 20% of the compressive strength depending on the type, size
and volume of coarse aggregate used in a concrete beam. However, the best correlation for
specific materials is obtained by laboratory tests for the given materials and mix design. The
MR determined by third point loading is lower than the MR determined by center point
loading, sometimes by as much as 15%.
Pure water dissociates slightly into equal concentrations of hydrogen and hydroxyl
(OH−) ions. For a neutral solution, [H+] is 10−7, or pH = 7. For larger hydrogen
ion concentrations, then, the pH of the solution is < 7. For example, if the hydrogen ion
concentration is 10−4, the pH = 4 and the solution is acidic.

What is the hydrogen ion concentration of water?

The pH of pure water is 7, the negative logarithm of 1 X 10-7. A neutral solution is
one that is neither acidic nor basic. The hydrogen ion concentration equals the
hydroxide ion concentration, and both equal 1 X 10-7 M. In a neutral solution, then,
pH = pOH = 7.
Young modulus
Modulus of elasticity
Modulus of rigidity
Modulus of rupture