Aggregates

Concrete is considered to be an artificial stone

obtained by binding together the particles of

relatively inert fine and coarse materials with

cement paste and water.

-M.L.Gambhir
 General
• Aggregates are generally cheaper than cement
and impart greater volume stability and
durability to concrete.
• Used primarily for the purpose of providing
bulk to the concrete
• To increase density of resulting mix, aggregate
is frequently used in two or more sizes.
• Most important function of fine aggregate is
to assist in producing workability and
uniformity in mixture
• Provide about 75% of the body of the concrete
• Must be of proper shape, clean, hard, strong
and well graded
• Should possess chemical stability, abrasion
resistant and resistant to freezing and thawing
 Classification of aggregates
• A) Based on geological origin
– Natural aggregate
• Generally obtained from natural deposits of sand and
gravel, or from quarries by cutting rocks such as granite,
quartzite, basalt, sand stone.
• The river deposits are the most common and are of good
quality.
• Igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic in origin.

– Artificial aggregate
• Most widely used are clean broken bricks (brick aggregate
not suitable for waterproof construction and road work)and
• air-cooled fresh blast-furnace-slag(good fire resisting
quality, sulphate resistance),sintered fly ash, bloated clay.
• B) Based on Size
Largest maximum size conveniently used for concrete
making-80mm
Using largest possible maximum size will result in
• reduction of cement content,
• reduction in water requirement,
• reduction of drying and shrinkage
– The particle size distribution is called ‘grading’
– Maximum size of aggregate may be limited by
• Thickness of section
• Clear cover
• Spacing of reinforcement
• Mixing, handling and placing techniques
classification
– Fine aggregate
• Passing through 4.75mm IS sieve.
• Three types-natural sand, crushed stone sand, crushed
gravel sand.

– Coarse aggregate
• Retained on 4.75mm IS sieve.
• Types- crushed gravel, uncrushed gravel and partially
crushed gravel.
– All-in one aggregate
• Combined aggregates available in nature comprising
different fractions of fine and coarse aggregate.
• not generally used for making high quality concrete.

– Single size aggregate

• Comprising particles falling essentially within a narrow
limit of size fractions
• C) Based on Shape
– Influence workability, Rounded aggregates
are more workable to angular
Classification
– Rounded: Fully water worn(smoothened)or
completely shaped by attrition(pressure)
– Eg. River or seashore gravels,
desert, seashore and
wind blown sands
• Irregular: Naturally irregular or partly shaped
by attrition, having rounded edges. Eg. Pit
sands and gravels, cuboid rock
Angular: Possessing well defined edges
formed at the intersection of roughly planar
faces.
Crushed rocks of all types , talus, screes
(accumulation of broken rock fragments at the
base of cliffs)
– Flaky and elongated
– Material usually angular, of which the
thickness is small relative to the width
and/or length
• Eg. Laminated rocks
• D) Based on Unit weight
– Normal weight aggregate
– Commonly used aggregate (sand and gravel)
– Specific gravity between 2.5 and 2.7 produce
concrete with unit weight 23 to 26 KN/m3
– Crushing strength of concrete at 28 days between
15 to 40 MPa are termed normal weight concrete
– Heavy weight or high density
– Concrete of unit weight 30 to 57kN/m3 can be
produced by using goethite (iron bearing
hydroxide mineral) to scrap iron
– Drawback- not suitably graded and difficult to have
adequate workability
– Light weight
 Bond of aggregate
• Bond between aggregate and cement paste is
an important factor in the strength of concrete
especially the flexural strength.
• Bond is partly due to the interlocking of the
aggregate and the paste owing to the
roughness of the surface of the former
• A rough surface results in better bond, better
bond is also obtained with softer, porous and
mineralogically heterogeneous particles.
 Characteristics
• Strength
• Toughness
• Hardness
• Particle shape and texture
• Specific gravity
• Bulk density
• Voids
• Porosity and absorption of aggregate
• Moisture content
• Bulking of fine aggregate
 Strength
• Ability to resist stress without failure
• Many properties of concrete, such as elastic modulus,
water tightness or impermeability and resistance to
weathering agents are believed to be dependent on
strength
• Compressive strength of concrete cannot exceed that of
the bulk of the aggregate contained therein.
• Aggregate crushing value should not exceed 45% for
aggregate used for concrete other than for wearing
surfaces and 30% for concrete for wearing surfaces, such as
runways, roads and pavements
 Aggregate crushing value
• A sample of aggregate passing through 12.5 mm sieve and retained on 10mm is
obtained by sieving and dried in an oven at 100°C for few hours, placed in a
cylindrical mould and tamped.

• The sample is then blown 15 times by standard hammer.

• The crushed sample is sieved through a 2.36 mm sieve and the material passing
though 2.36 mm sieve is weighed .
 Aggregate abrasion value
• Apart from testing aggregate with respect to its crushing value,
impact resistance, testing the aggregate with respect to its
resistance to wear is an important test aggregate to be used for
road constructions, warehouse floors and pavement construction.

• Deval atrition test(the process of reducing strength of something or effectiveness through sustained
attack or pressure.)

• Dorry abrasion test

• Los Angels abrasion test

Abrasion is the process of scraping or wearing something away.
 Bulk density
• Bulk density or unit weight –
• Gives information on shape and grading of the
aggregate
• Higher the bulk density, lower the void content
to be filled by sand and cement.
 Bulk density
• Aggregates are filled in a container
• Compacted
• Weight of aggregate gives bulk density
calculated in kg/lit or kg/m3
• Knowing specific gravity in saturated and surface
dry condition, void ratio can be calculated
x100
where
• Gs = specific gravity of the aggregate
• ϒ=bulk density in kg/litre
 Specific gravity
• Is made use of in design calculation of
concrete mix
• Weight can be converted into solid volume by
knowing its specific gravity
• Also required in calculating compacting factor
in connection with workability measurement
• Average specific gravity of rock ranges
between 2.6 to 2.8
 Absorption and moisture content
• Aggregates are porous and absorptive
• Porosity and absorption will affect the water
cement ratio and hence workability, durability
(freezing and thawing, chemically aggressive
liquids)
 Water absorption
• Increase in weight of an oven dry sample when
immersed in water for 24 hours
• The ratio of increase in weight to the weight of dry
sample expressed as percentage is known as
absorption of aggregate
• In practice, aggregates are either dry and absorptive
to various degrees or they have surface moisture
Fine aggregates dredged from river bed usually
contains surface moisture
• Absorption capacity of aggregates is about 0.5
to 1 percent by weight of aggregate.
 Bulking of aggregate
Fine aggregate
• Free moisture forms a film around each particle
• This film exerts surface tension which keeps particle away
from each other
• So no point of contact between the particles, leading in
bulking
• Increase in bulking with the increase in moisture content
up to certain limit and then decreases, showing no bulking
• Sand bulks more compared to coarse aggregates, so it is
neglected(CA)
• Extremely fine sand and particularly the manufactured
fine aggregate bulks as much as about 40%
AGGREGATES Contd.
 Alkali aggregate reaction
• Expansion and cracking of concrete leading to
loss of strength and elastic modulus resulting
from chemical reaction involving alkali and
hydroxyls ions from Portland cement paste and
certain reactive siliceous minerals that are often
present in the aggregate is known as
ALKALI – AGGREGATE REACTION
• Recent literature, it is referred to as Alkali-silica
reaction(ASR)
• Types of rocks which contain reactive
constituents include traps, andesites,
rhyolites, siliceous limestones and certain type
of sand stones
• The reaction starts with the attack on the
reactive siliceous materials in the aggregate by
the alkaline hydroxide derived from the
alkalies in cement
• As a result, alkali silicate gels
of unlimited swelling type are
formed.
• It results in disruption of concrete with the spreading of
pattern cracks and eventual failure of concrete structures
• Basalt rock in Deccan plateau, Madhya Pradesh,
Kathiawar, Hyderabad, Punchal hill(J&K), bengal and
Bihar should be used with caution
Factors promoting Alkali- Aggregate reaction
• Reactive type of aggregate
• High alkali content in cement
– Alkali content should be kept less than 0.6 percent
• Availability of moisture
– Lack of water reduces rate of deterioration
• Optimum temperature conditions
– Ideal temperature for the promotion of alkali
aggregate reaction is in the range of 10 to 38°C
Mechanism of deterioration of concrete through the Alkali-
Aggregate Reaction
• The mixing water turns to be a strongly caustic solution due
to solubility of alkalies from the cement.
• This caustic liquid attacks reactive silica to form alkali-silica
gel of unlimited swelling type.
• The reaction proceeds more rapidly for highly reactive
substances.
• If continuous supply of water and correct temperature is
available, the formation of silica gel continues unabated.
• This silica gel grows in size.
• The continuous growth of silica gel exerts osmotic pressure
to cause pattern cracking particularly in thinner sections of
concrete like pavements.
• Formation of pattern cracks due to the stress induced by
the growth of silica gel results in subsequent loss in
strength and elasticity.

• Alkali-aggregate reaction also accelerates other process

of deterioration of concrete due to the formation of
cracks.

• Solution of dissolved carbon dioxide, converts calcium

hydroxide to calcium carbonate with consequent
increase in volume.
Control of Alkali-aggregate reaction
• Selection of non-reactive aggregates
• By the use of low alkali cement
• By the use of corrective admixtures like
pozzolonas
• By controlling void space in concrete
• By controlling moisture condition and
temperature.

Eg. Kaiga Nuclear power project (0.4% alkali content

cement)
Kaiga Nuclear Powerplant
Deleterious Substances in Aggregate
Impurities which interfere with the process of
hydration of cement
Coatings which prevent the development of
good bond between aggregate and cement
paste
Certain individual particles which are weak or
unsound in themselves.
Deleterious Substances in Aggregate
Organic impurities (decay of vegetable matter), clay and other
fine material (silt and crusher dust), salt contamination (river
estuary- causes efflorescence).

Iron pyrites, clay nodules, soft shale particles- swell

when wetted (damage the concrete when subjected to freezing and thawing
or wetting and drying)