IIT BHUBANESWAR

TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING
LABORATORY
(CE2P001)

Experiment -1
TEST OF AGGREGATES

SOUMYAJIT MANNA
19CE01018
SCHOOL OF INFRASTRUCTURE
 Tests of Aggregates:
There are several tests that were performed in the lab.
➢ Specific Gravity
➢ Water Absorption Test
➢ Grading
➢ Crushing Test
➢ Abrasion Test
➢ Impact Test
➢ Shape Test

 Aim:
1. The aim of sieve analysis is to determine the aggregate gradation curve.
2. The aggregate Crushing Value Test provides a relative measure of resistance to crushing
under a gradually applied compressive load.
3. Impact value test determines the amount of energy absorbed by a material during
fracture.
4. The abrasion test aims to determine the Resistance of aggregates against wear and tear
due to the movement of traffic.
5. Particle shape tests of coarse aggregates are used for determining the particle shape or
form of aggregates are the Flakiness Index and Elongation Index.
6. Specific Gravity and water absorption tests provide us about the density of the
aggregates and moisture present in the specimen.

 Materials required:
1. Sample specimen of Aggregates
2. Water

 Apparatus required:
1. Different types of Sieve
2. Length gauge
3. Thickness gauge
4. Los Angles abrasion apparatus

 Procedure:
Crushing Test:

i. Sample specimen of coarse aggregates passing through 12.5 mm sieve and retained
on 10 mm sieve. (Here these two IS sieves are selected for the test.)
ii. It is jerked sufficiently so that the particles of aggregates become well separated.
iii. The cylinder was placed on the base and weight was taken.
 iv. The sample was put in 3 layers and 25 strokes were given in each layer.
v. Depth of the material after tampering shall be 10 cm.
vi. The cylinder with a plunger was placed on the loading platform on the compression
testing machine.
vii. Loading test is applied a uniform rate so that a total load of 40T is applied within 10
minutes.
viii. The load is released and the material is removed from the cylinder.
ix. The product is sieved with 2.36mm IS sieve.

 Aggregate Gradation test:

Grading test was done basically in blending methods.
i. Sieves are arranged based on specification.
ii. Sieves are arranged according to their size in decreasing order from top to bottom.
iii. A known mass of the materials is placed on the top of the sieve.
iv. Then sieves are manually shaken for a designated period of time.
v. Weight of the material of each sieve is recorded after measurement.
vi. Observed and calculated data are noted in a sheet and graph plot is done.

 Specific gravity test:

i. Weight of the empty wire basket is noted.
ii. The sample in the basket is released and the container is jolted to release any
entrapped air before weighing.
iii. Then the weight of the sample in underwater is noted.
iv. The basket should be pre-conditioned to the water-bath temperature.
v. The sample will be dried to a Saturated Surface Dry (SSD) condition. And it was rolled
for achieving SSD condition.
vi. Weight of the SSD is noted.
vii. Weight of the SSD after 24 hrs is noted and it was kept in 110oC.
 Impact Value Test:
i. Aggregates passing through the 12.5 mm sieve and retained on 10 mm sieve is
considered as test material.
ii. Then it is placed in the measuring cylinder in 3 layers along with 25 blows in each of
them.
iii. The weight of the aggregates is noted and are placed in the cup for impact loading.
iv. The hammer is blown 15 times with a constant period and that won’t be less than 1
second.
v. The weight of the fraction is taken that passes through the 2.36mm sieve with an
accuracy of 1 gm.

 Shape Test:
i. The sample is sieved through the IS sieve.
ii. A minimum of 200 pieces of each fraction is taken to be tested and their weight is
noted.
iii. Flaky materials that have passed through the gauge are separated and weight is
noted.
iv. Elongation index has checked only for non-flaky aggregates.
v. Weight of the elongated material which is retained in gauge is noted.

 Los Angles Abrasion test:

i. 5 kg for A, B, C, D gradings and 10 kg for E, F, G, H gradings are taken.
ii. Aggregates and abrasive charge on the cylinder are placed and the cover was fixed.
iii. The machine is rotated at 30-33 rpm speed.
iv. The number of rotations is for 500 for A, B, C, D and 1000 for E, F, G.
v. After the desired number of revolutions, the aggregates are discharged to a tray.
vi. The material coarser than 1.7mm of size is weighed correct to 1 gm.

Los Angeles Abrasion Test on

Aggregates

 Calculation:
Crushing test:
The initial weight of the aggregate sample (A) = 3.25 kg
Weight of aggregate sample retained on IS 2.36 mm sieve (B)= 2.406 kg
Weight of aggregate sample passing IS 2.36 mm sieve (A-B) = 3.25 - 2.406 = 0.844 kg
Aggregate crushing value (А-B) X 100/A = 25.96%

 Grading Test:
Sieve size Aggregate retained(g) Aggregate retained(%) Cumulative Cumulative passing
retained (%) (%)
63 0 0 0 100
50 282 5.211605988 5.211605988 94.78839401
40 0 0 5.211605988 94.78839401
31.5 246 4.546294585 9.757900573 90.24209943
25 158 2.919977823 12.6778784 87.3221216
20 1000 18.4808723 31.15875069 68.84124931
16 1487 27.48105711 58.6398078 41.3601922
12.5 582 10.75586768 69.39567548 30.60432452
10 614 11.34725559 80.74293107 19.25706893
6.5 902 16.66974681 97.41267788 2.587322122
pan 140 2.587322122 100 0

 Specific gravity test:

Weight of oven-dried aggregate sample (A)= 1.994 kg
Weight of SSD aggregate sample (B) = 1.999 kg
Weight of empty wire basket in water = 0.848 kg
Weight of aggregate and wire basket in water = 2.172 kg
Weight of aggregate in water (C)= 2.172 - 0.848 = 1.324 kg
Bulk Specific Gravity A /(B-C) = 2.954
Apparent Specific Gravity А /(A-C) = 2.976

 Impact load test:

The initial weight of the aggregate sample (A) = 323 gm
Weight of aggregate sample retained on IS 2.36 mm sieve (B) = 237 gm
Weight of aggregate sample passing IS 2.36 mm sieve = 323 -237 86 gm
Aggregate Impact Value = ((A-B)/A) X 100 = 26.62 %

 Shape Test:

Flakiness Index 900/10078 = 8.93 %

Elongation Index 758/9178 = 8.26 %
Combined Flakiness and elongation Index = 8.93 + 8.26 = 17.19 %

 Los Angles Abrasion test:

The initial weight of the aggregate sample (A) = 5 kg
Weight of aggregate sample retained on IS 1.7 mm sieve (B) = 3.322 kg
Weight of aggregate sample passing IS 1.7 mm sieve 3.25 - 2.406 = 1.678 kg
Los Angles Abrasion Value = [(A-B) /A]X 100 = 33.56 %

Conclusion:
After doing these tests, we can confirm that the purpose we are using the aggregates
whether it would be appropriate or not as it provides different qualities of aggregates.
Remark:
The sample/specimen must be taken by random selection from the source. Otherwise, the
test result will be biased.