Lab5

a. Pycnometer Bottle
- Pycnometer bottles are usually made of glass and have a ground glass stopper
with a capillary tube for air bubbles to escape. It uses a balance to measure the
density in reference to a working fluid like water or mercury.

b. Oven

- Lab ovens cure things in order to harden their chemical composition. This method produces
epoxies, glues, plastics, and rubbers for use in polymer research, nanotechnology, and
semiconductor manufacturing.

c. Fine Aggregate

- Fine aggregates are essentially any natural sand particles obtained from the ground by mining. Fine
aggregates are made out of natural sand or crushed stone particles that are 14" or smaller in size. This
product is frequently referred to as 1/4'" minus because of this specific aggregate's size, or grading.

d. Apparent Specific Gravity

- The weight in air of a unit volume of impermeable aggregate (excluding permeable pores) at the
specified temperature divided by the weight in air of an equal volume of gas-free distilled water.

e. Bulk Specific Gravity

- The weight in air of a unit volume of aggregate at a given temperature divided by the weight in air of
an identical volume of gas-free distilled water at the same temperature.

f. Bulk Specific Gravity at Saturated Surface Dry (SSD)

- The weight in air of a unit volume of aggregate, including the weight of water within the voids filled to
the extent obtained by immersing in water for roughly 15 hours, divided by the weight in air of an equal
volume of gas-free distilled water at the indicated temperature.

g. Saturated Surface Dry

- Saturated surface dry is the situation of an aggregate in which the particle surfaces are "dry," but the
inter-particle spaces are saturated with water. In this case, aggregates have no effect on the free water
content of a composite material.

h. Absorption

- The weight increase of aggregate caused by water in the pores of the material, excluding water sticking
to the exterior surface of the particles.

i. Adsorption

- Adsorption is a surface process that causes a molecule to move from a fluid bulk to a solid surface. This
might happen due to physical forces or chemical connections.
THEORY OF DISCUSSION

Pycnometers are used to determine the specific gravity of soil particles in both fine- and coarse-grained
soils. The determination of soil-specific gravity will aid in the computation of void ratio, degree of
saturation, and other soil parameters.

The powder pycnometer density offers the theoretical density of the powder and can also indicate
difficulties with internal voids inside a powder.

A pycnometer is a popular piece of laboratory equipment. It is used to determine the density or volume
of solids. It makes use of an inert gas like helium or nitrogen. As a result, it is also known as a helium
pycnometer. A pycnometer can measure porous/non-porous, regular shaped, granular, powdered,
monolithic, and even comminuted substances. The volume-pressure connection is determined by
Boyle's Law, which is the basis for this laboratory equipment.

Lab6

THEORY OF DISCUSSION

Aggregate specific gravity is required to compute weight-to-volume relationships and volume-related

parameters such as voids in mineral aggregate (VMA) and voids filled by asphalt (VFA). Absorption can
be utilized to predict aggregate durability as well as the amount of asphalt binder that will be absorbed.
Aggregate absorption is the increase in mass caused by water in the material's pores.

High levels may imply that the aggregate is not long-lasting. The amount of asphalt binder absorbed by
the aggregate can be determined through absorption. In general, it is preferable to avoid extremely
absorptive aggregate in HMA. This is because the absorbed asphalt binder is not accessible to coat the
aggregate particle surface and hence is not available for bonding. As a result, highly absorbent
aggregates (typically defined as having more than 5% absorption) require more asphalt binder to
generate the same film thickness as fewer absorbent aggregates, making the final HMA more expensive.

Specific gravities can vary greatly depending on the type of aggregate. Certain lightweight shales (not
utilized in HMA production) can have specific gravities as low as 1.050, whereas another aggregate can
have specific gravities as high as 3.000. The bulk specific gravity of aggregate used in HMA
manufacturing is typically between 2.400 and 3.000, with 2.700 being common for limestone. Bulk SSD
specific gravities can be 0.050 to 0.100 greater than bulk oven dry specific gravities, and apparent
specific gravities can be even higher.
Fine aggregate-specific gravities can be slightly higher than coarse aggregate-specific gravities for a given
aggregate type or source because as aggregate particles get smaller, the fraction of pores exposed to
the aggregate surface (and thus excluded from the specific gravity calculation because they are water-
permeable) increases.

Aggregate absorption varies greatly depending on the aggregate type. Certain lightweight shales (not
utilized in HMA manufacturing) can absorb up to 30% of their weight, whereas other aggregate types
can absorb almost nothing. The absorption of aggregate used in the manufacturing of HMA is typically
between 0% and 5%. Absorptions exceeding around 5% render HMA mixtures uneconomical since
additional asphalt binder is required to account for the high aggregate absorption.