Absorption of Coarse

Aggregates
Group 4
Ocampo, Resuello, Roldan, San Miguel, Singson, Soriano, Talavera, Taylo, Viclar
Absorption of Coarse Aggregates
Introduction
Absorption is a measure of the amount of water that an aggregate can absorb into its pore structure.
Pores that absorb water are also referred to as “water permeable voids”. Aggregate absorption is the
increase in mass due to water in the pores of the material.

Coarse aggregates are a construction component made of rock quarried from ground deposits. Examples
of these kinds of ground deposits include river gravel, crushed stone from rock quarries, and previously
used concrete. It is usually greater than 0.19 inch, but generally range between 3/8 and 1.5 inches in
diameter.

Water absorption test determines the water holding capacity of the coarse and fine aggregates.
Coarse Aggregate Absorption
Aggregate absorption is the increase in mass due to water in the pores of the material. Aggregate absorption is
a useful quality because:

1. High values can indicate non-durable aggregate.

2. Absorption can indicate the amount of asphalt binder the aggregate will absorb.
It is generally desirable to avoid highly absorptive aggregate in HMA. This is because asphalt binder that is
absorbed by the aggregate is not available to coat the aggregate particle surface and is therefore not available
for bonding. Therefore, highly absorptive aggregates (often specified as over 5 percent absorption) require
more asphalt binder to develop the same film thickness as less absorptive aggregates making the resulting
HMA more expensive.
Materials for the Experiment
4.75 mm sieve
Weighing Scale
Mesh Wire Bucket
Drying Towel
Oven
Coarse Aggregate
Container
Experiment Procedure
1. Using a 4.75 mm sieve, remove any fine aggregate present in the water
soaked aggregates. (soaked for at least 24 hours)
2. Coarse aggregate taken (in enough quantity) after sieving is then
brought to their SSD condition which is done using a dry towel.
Note: Aggregates are in SSD when the sheen of water is not observed on
the surface of aggregates.
3. SSD aggregates are then taken in a container. A wet cloth is placed over
the container to prevent SSD aggregates from over drying.
4. This procedure is continued until 5kg of SSD Coarse aggregates is
obtained for absorption test. Once there is enough SSD aggregates, we need
their weights in air, underwater, and in oven dry condition.
5. Weight the SSD aggregates in air and note down the value (Here, is
5000.9 grams)
6. Before weighing the aggregates under the water, make sure to tare the
empty basket as shown.
7. Take out the basket from water and fill the weighed aggregates in to the
basket. Be careful not to lose any aggregates to avoid errors.
8. Attach the basket filled with aggregates to the weighing scale and note
down the weight of SSD aggregates under water.
9. Make sure all aggregate particles are under the water surface before
noting down the weight. (Here, the underwater weight is 3089.8 grams.
10. Then, take out the aggregates from the basket and spread them on a
metal pan.
11. For oven drying, keep the pan in an oven maintained at 105 degrees
Celsius for at least 24 hours.
12. Take out the pan from the oven after 24 hours and cool the pan to room
temperature. Be careful while handling the metal pan.
13. Measure the oven dry weight and note it down. (Here, it is 4971.7
grams)
14. Lastly, calculate the absorption value while using the formulas.

Where: A = weight of the oven-dry sample in air, (g)

B = weight of SSD in air, (g)
C = weight of SSD sample in water, (g)
Computation
Computation
Where: A = 4971.7 g B = 5000.9 g C = 3089.8 g
Results
Significance
Significance of the experiment

● The absorption is important in determining the net water-cement ratio in the concrete mix.
● Absorption can be used as an indicator of aggregate durability as well as the volume of
asphalt binder it is likely to absorb.
● Absorption values enables us to calculate the change in the weight of aggregates.
● Absorption can determine durability; high values can indicate non-durable aggregate.
Applications
Applications of the experiment

● The absorption of an aggregate is an increased mass of aggregates due to water getting trapped in pores.It
is an important property of aggregate since higher absorption indicate aggregates are not durable.
● Absorption presents how much asphalt can be holded by aggregate in a cement concrete mixture.Aggregate
absorption is important in order to avoid any aggregate that is having high absorption capacity.
● If the absorption capacity of the aggregates is not being observed in a cement concrete mixture, the
aggregates appear to absorb more asphalt to make the bond stronger compared to aggregate with a low
absorption capacity.
● If the durability of the aggregates are not checked it will affect the strength of construction in the long run.
Thank you for listening!