AGGREGATES

o Aggregates are inert materials and act as important constituents in

concrete
o Specifications are laid down in IS 383 and IS 2386 (Part-I to VII)
o Occupy 70-80% volume of concrete
o Study of concrete is incomplete without the knowledge of properties of
aggregate
(a) Classification: (i) Based on their weight:
o Light weight aggregate, Normal weight aggregate, Heavy weight aggregate
o Normal weight aggregate can further be classified as Natural and Artificial
aggregates
o Natural aggregate: Sand, Gravel, Crushed rock (Granite, Quartzite, Basalt,
Sandstone
o Artificial Aggregate: Broken brick, Air-cooled slag, Bloated clay
(ii) Classification: Based on their size:
o Coarse aggregate (CA): > 4.75mm
o Fine aggregate (FA): < or = 4.75mm
(b) Source of Aggregates:
o Originated from bed rock: Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic rock

o Igneous rock:

 Formed by the cooling of molten magma or lava

 At the surface of the crust: Trap or Basalt
 At deep beneath the crust: Granite
 Hard, tough and dense – satisfactory for concrete aggregate
 May be acidic or basic depending upon the silica content
 Chemically active aggregate – tendency to react with alkalies in cement
 Light and dark colour
 Subjected to weathering agencies such as sun, rain and wind
o Sedimentary rock:
 These rocks are originally below the sea bed and subsequently lifted up
 Formed due to decomposition, fragmentation, transportation and
deposition of weathering agencies
 The deposition, cementation and consolidation takes place layer by layer
 Carbonaceous, siliceous or argillaceous in nature
 Some siliceous sandstone are good aggregate
 It vary from soft to hard, porous to dense, light to heavy
 The limestone proved to be good aggregate for concrete
(b) Source of Aggregates:

o Metamorphic rock:

 Originally either from igneous or sedimentary rocks, which are

subsequently metamorphosed due to extreme heat and pressure
 Quartzite and Gneiss proved to be good aggregate for concrete
o Sources of natural aggregates:

 River or stream deposits

 Talus deposits
 Wind deposits
 Terrace deposit
 Glacial deposits
 Quarried rock

o Notes:
 Shape and size of aggregate are important for concrete
 The relative cost of materials in several sources is also an important factor for the
selection of good aggregate
(c) Size of aggregate:

o Largest maximum size aggregate (MSA) is 80mm used for making concrete
o Using largest MSA result in
 Reduction of the cement content
 Reduction in water requirement
 Reduction of drying shrinkage

o Limitations of using MSA for the following conditions:

 Thickness of section
 Spacing of reinforcement
 Clear cover
 Mixing, handling and placing techniques

o MSA shall not be greater than one-fourth of the minimum thickness of the
member
o Rubbles of 160mm size may be used for plain concrete also called plum
concrete
 Maximum quantity of rubble is 20% by volume of concrete
(c) Size of aggregate:

o For heavily reinforced concrete section MSA shall be restricted to:

 5mm less than the clear distance between bars or
 5mm less than the minimum cover to reinforcement, whichever is
smaller

o MSA < or = 20mm satisfactory for reinforced cement concrete (RCC) work

o Standard sieve size for aggregate are:

Coarse aggregate Fine aggregate

80mm < or = 4.75mm
40mm 2.36mm
20mm 1.18mm
10mm 600μm
> 4.75mm 300μm
150μm
(d) Shape of aggregate:

o shape of aggregate may be flaky, rounded, angular/cubical/

equidimensional
 Flaky (thickness is small relative to width or length): laminated rock
 Rounded: obtained by river or sea shore (by attrition) e.g. gravels, desert
sea shore, wind blown sand
 Irregular or partly rounded: Pit sands and gravel, land or dug flints,
cuboid rock
 Angular: crushed rock of all types [depends on type of crusher and
reduction ratio (i.e. The ratio of size of material fed into crusher to the
size of finished product)]
o Affects the workability of concrete
o Flaky aggregate produced due to planes of parting or jointing such as
schists, slates, shales
o Flat particles are objectionable: affects workability, cement requirement,
strength and durability
o Equidimensional/cubical shape aggregate are best such as granite, basalt,
quartzite
(d) Shape of aggregate:

o Angular aggregate are superior to rounded aggregate due to:

 Better interlocking effect – for roads and pavements
 For the given volume, total surface area is more than smooth rounded
aggregate
 Higher bond strength

o More water is required for higher surface area of angular aggregate with
rough texture

o For water/cement (w/c) ratio < 0.4 - the crushed aggregate strength is 38%
higher than rounded aggregate; and for w/c ratio = 0.65 – no difference of
strength in concrete

o With increase in w/c ratio, the influence of roughness of surface gets

reduced
(e) Texture of aggregate:

o Depends on hardness, grain size, pore structure, structure of rock and

forces acting on particles
o Hard, dense, fined grained material have smooth surface texture
o Surface smoothness increases – contact area decreases
o Smooth particles requires a thinner layer of paste
 Permit denser packing for equal workability
o Rough texture aggregate develops higher bond strength in tension than
smooth textured aggregate
o Surface characteristics are:
 Glassy – black flint
 Smooth – chert, slat, marble, some rhyolite
 Granular – sandstone, oolites
 Crystalline – fine: basalt, trachyte
medium: Dolerite, granophyre, granulite,, microgarnite,
limestone, dolomite
coarse: gabbro, gneiss, granite, granodiorite, syenite
 Honeycombed and porous – scoriac, pumice, trass
(f) Strength of aggregate:

o The strength of rock is not represent the strength of aggregate in concrete

o Strong aggregate cannot make strong concrete
o For strong concrete, strong aggregate is essential
o Depends on the strength of paste and bond between the paste and
aggregate

(g) Bulk density of aggregate: or Unit weight of aggregate

o Valuable property for shape and grading of aggregate
o Angular aggregate show lower bulk density
o Depends on the particle size distribution and shape of the particles
o Higher bulk density – lower void content – economical mix
(h) Specific gravity of aggregate:
o Used in design of concrete mix
o Used to find the compaction factor & workability for light and heavy weight
concrete
o Specific gravity of rock may vary from 2.6 to 2.8
 (i) Absorption and Moisture content:

o Porosity of aggregate affect the w/c ratio and hence the workability and
durability of concrete
o Represents quantity of water absorbed by aggregate (oven dry to saturated
surface dry (SSD in %))
o Absorption capacity of coarse aggregate may be 0.5 to 1.0% and for fine
aggregate 1 to 10% or more by weight
o Moisture state in aggregate
Damp or wet
Oven dry Air dry SSD Free water

Water
Water 1
No water 3 Internal water
2
4

1- Effective absorption 2- Absorption capacity or Total internal moisture

3- Surface moisture 4- Total moisture
(i) Absorption and Moisture content:

o Absorption capacity:
Rock/aggregate type Absorption (%)
Soft sand stone 20-30  But shall not be
Hard sandstone 2-10 greater than 3%
Slate <6
Shale and limestone <3
Igneous rock/quartzite <1
o Bulking of aggregate:
 Free moisture forms a film around each particles
 Fine sand bulk more than a coarse sand
 If bulking is not control – harsh concrete

(j) Soundness of aggregate:

o Porous and weak aggregate may go excessive volume change under
freezing and thawing variation in temperature or in alternate wetting and
drying conditions
o Samples Immersed in sodium or magnesium sulphate solution and oven
dry – loss in weight
(k) Cleanliness of aggregate:

o Aggregate should be free from impurities and deleterious substances

o Affect the hydration process, bond between aggregate and matrix, reduce
the durability of concrete
o Fine aggregate – silt and clay impurities – increase shrinkage, permeability
and poor bond, greater water demand
o Coarse aggregate – moss or mud or algae if unused for long time –
entrainment of air in concrete – reduces strength
o If salt is present – affect the setting and ultimate strength of concrete
o Aggregate from tidal river or sea shore – impurities shall not be greater
than 3%
o The deleterious materials shall not be exceed 5%
(l) Sieve analysis of aggregate:
o To determine particle size distribution, called gradation – measured in
terms of fineness modulus (FM)
o Limits of FM: Fine sand = 2.2 – 2.6; medium sand = 2.6 – 2.9; coarse sand =
2.9 – 3.2
(m) Alkali-aggregate reaction:

o Aggregate contains reactive silica, may react with alkalies present in

cement i.e. Sodium and potassium oxide
o Promoting factors – reactive type of aggregate, high alkali content in
cement, availability of moisture, optimum temperature condition (10-38oC)
o Swelling type failure – disruption of concrete with spreading of cracks,
Surface cracking, internal micro fracturing, excessive expansion of
concrete – failure of structures
o Reduce by using Pozzolana low alkali content cement
(n) Thermal properties:
o Quality of aggregate for concrete construction depends on
 Coefficient of expansion
 Specific heat Important for mass concreting & light
 Thermal conductivity weight concrete for thermal insulation

o Coefficient of thermal expansion (αt) differs from cement

o Large difference in αt affects durability of concrete (< 2×10-6)
o Compatible at higher range but incompatible at lower range
(n) Thermal properties:

o Average value of αt for concrete = 9.9×10-6 per °C (ranging 5.8×10-6 to 14×10-6

per °C)
 αt for hydrated cement paste = 10.8×10-6 to 16.2×10-6 per °C
 αt for mortar = 7.9×10-6 to 12.6×10-6 per °C
 αt for rock = 0.9×10-6 to 16×10-6 per °C
o Calcareous aggregate – crushed lime stone calcined at 700oC disintegrates
on subsequent exposure to air
o Siliceous aggregate – flint, gravel, granite, crushed natural stones are liable
to shattering at 570oC due to dehydration (conversion of quartz from one
form to another)
TESTING ON CEMENT AND AGGREGATE
Physical tests for cement:
o Normal consistency of standard cement paste (IS 4031 – part 4)
o Initial and final setting time of cement (IS 4031 – part 5)
o Compressive strength of cement mortar (IS 4031 – part 6 & 7)
o Soundness of cement (IS 4031 – part 3)
o Fineness of cement (IS 4031 – part 1, 2 & 15)

o Transverse strength of cement mortar (IS 4031 – part 8)

o Heat of hydration of cement (IS 4031 – part 9)
o Drying shrinkage of cement (IS 4031 – part 10)
o Density of cement (IS 4031 – part 11)
o Air content of cement mortar (IS 4031 – part 12)
o Water retentivity of masonry cement (IS 4031 – part 13)
o False set of cement (IS 4031 – part 14)

Chemical analysis of cement: IS 4032

Tests for aggregates:

o Particle size and shape of aggregate (IS 2386 – part 1)

o Estimation of deleterious materials and organic impurities (IS 2386 – part 2)
o Specific gravity, density, voids, absorption and bulking (IS 2386 – part 3)
o Mechanical properties of aggregates (IS 2386 – part 4)
o Soundness of aggregates (IS 2386 – part 5)
o Mortar making properties of fine aggregate (IS 2386 – part 6)
o Alkali aggregate reactivity (IS 2386 – part 7)
o Petrographic examination (IS 2386 – part 8)