Discussion:

Quartering of aggregate

Quartering is the alternative method of reducing the size of a bulk aggregate sample
where a sample divider (riffle box) is not available. The bulk sample should be shoveled
to form a cone, and turned over to form a new cone, this being done three times. The
third cone shoul d be flattened to an even layer 75 - 100 mm thick and then divided into
four equal quadrants with two diagonally opposite quarters being discarded. The
procedure is then repeated on the remainder until the desired size of sample remains. A
similar process can be used for sub-dividing fresh concrete.

Coning and Quartering for sample preparation techniques/method

The method which is used for sampling large quantities of material say 20kg, consists of
pouring or forming the material into a conical heap upon a solid surface (e.g. a steel plate)
and relying on radial symmetry to give four quarters when the heap is divided by a cross.
Two opposite corners are taken as the sample the other two set aside. The portions chosen
may be further reduced by a repetition of the process, until the required size of sample is
obtained.
 Procedure of Coning and Quartering an approximate 50kg sample
1. Starting sample weight (approximately 50 kg)
2. Set up adjacent to work area.
3. Clean steel plate.
 4. Spread out sample and mix thoroughly into conical heap.
5. Quarter.
6. Repeat quartering.
7. Bag sample – replace container to storage with excess sample.

Observation:
During the experiment, I have observed that it was a fun thing to do. Though it seems funny to
think of however I gained a lot of learnings from it. Moreover, I just noticed that the aggregates
should be washed in the first place and afterwards it should be sieved through in order to get a
desired and satisfied result especially as it is being used for quartering. In sieving the
aggregates, there were different number of sizes of sieve to be used according to its
specification. But in our experiment, we used 1 inch type of sieve and I found out that upon
sieving the aggregates, the small ones were sieved thoroughly and the big ones were remained
on the sieve. Those big ones were separated and not included during the quartering. Otherwise,
the small ones were collected to be used as a sample for quartering process. In addition, the
process of quartering method is not quite difficult, all you have to do is to follow the procedure
from step 1 to the end then repeat until the aggregates will become in smaller amount
specifically 1 inch to be exact.

Conclusion:
From the observation I have provided, therefore, I conclude that the quartering method is the
best suitable method for a certain experiment like this due to the fact that it is fairly time
intensive and thus is generally used in situations where an adequate mechanical splitter is unavailable.
Diligence and care is required to ensure that the samples obtained by quartering remain representative
of the entire field sample.

The field samples of aggregate must generally be reduced to an appropriate size for testing to determine
physical characteristics, such as, sieve analysis, soundness, hardness, etc. The methods described in this
test method are intended to minimize variations in the aggregate characteristics between the smaller
test sample and the larger field sample.

Failure to carefully follow the procedures in these methods of sample reduction may result in providing
a nonrepresentative sample for subsequent testing, resulting in inaccurate test results, and ultimately,
failure of the aggregate to perform as intended.