CONTENT

NO

TITLE

PAGE

OBJECTIVE

THEORY

APPARATUS

MATERIAL

PROCEDURES

RESULT

QUESTIONS

DISCUSSION

CONCLUSION

10

APPENDIX

11

REFERENCE

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EXPERIMENT

:4

TITLE

: SILT TEST FOR SAND

OBJECTIVE

: To determine amount and percent of silt in a nature sand

THEORY
Silt is granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay whose mineral
origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment (also known
as suspended load) in a surface water body. It may also exist as soil deposited at the bottom
of a water body.
Clay, mud, fine, dust or silt will weaken the concrete because the dirt tends to coat the
aggregate and weaken the bond between the aggregate and cement paste thus preventing the
cement from setting. Coarse aggregates should be for cleanliness purposes are inspected by
visual inspection.

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APPARATUS
1
2
3
4

Measuring cylinder 250 ml

Rubber hammer
Spatula
Stirring rod

MATERIAL
1
2
3

Water
Sand
Salt

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PROCEDURE
1. The cylinder was filled up to about 50 ml of salt water solution.
(one tablespoon salt to 1 litre of water)
2. The sand was poured into the cylinder until the level of water reaches 100 ml.
3. More salt water was added until it reaches 150 ml.
4. The cylinders were shakes well.
5. The cylinders were placed on a levelled surface.
6. After 2 hours, the results were recorded.
7. The silt layer was measured on top of the sand. The thickness can be explained as a
percentage of sand level below the layer. The sand considered as clean if the
percentage is not more than 8% of the original volume of the sand.

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RESULT

Calculation on amount of silt using Volume method.

Measurement (mm)
No.

Description

Sand inside
the lab

Sand
outside the
lab

Height of sand layer (y)

83 mm

80 mm

Height of silt (x)

4 mm

5 mm

Percentage of silt in sand

x / y X 100%

Standard form

percentage of silt less than

.%

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QUESTION
1

Why we use salt water in this test?

We use the salt in this test is for separate the water with the sand to measure the silt
layer on the top of the sand. If we dont use the salt, we could not measure it as the
water did not float or separate with the sand.

What happen to you concrete when we use the sand with silt more than 8%?
If we use sand with silt more than 8%, the concrete will weak and cannot use it for any
project. This is because the silt will weaken the bond between aggregates and cement
paste.

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DISSCUSSION
Silt is created by a variety of physical processes capable of splitting the generally sand-sized
quartz crystals of primary rocks by exploiting deficiencies in their lattice. These involve
chemical weathering of rock and regulate, and a number of physical weathering processes
such as frost shattering and haloclasty. The main process is abrasion through transport,
including fluvial combinations, Aeolian attrition and glacial grinding. It is in semi-arid
environments that substantial quantities of silt are produced. Silt is sometimes known as
"rock flour" or "stone dust", especially when produced by glacial action. Mineralogical, silt is
composed mainly of quartz and feldspar. Sedimentary rock composed mainly of silt is known
as siltstone.

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CONCLUSION
If the sand contains more than 6% silt, you would have to use more cement and the
concrete would shrink more during the hardening process, causing cracks in the product. Silt
and clay are not as strong as typical aggregates. They can absorb water and their properties
can change because of it. In fresh concrete, I would think that silt and clay would interfere
with the bonding of aggregates to cement. In hardened concrete, if the silt and clay come in
contact with water in air voids, they can shrink or swell, either building internal pressure
(swelling) or leaving larger voids and weakening the concrete (shrinking).

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APPENDIX

Poured salt water into cylinder filled with sand

Salt

Stirring salt water

Salt water

Glass rod

Spatula

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REFERENCE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silt
http://autonopedia.org/buildings_and_shelter/Rural_Building/Aggregates.ht
ml
http://sg.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?
qid=20100528053325AAfWt4Y

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