Chapter 2:

AGGREGATES

Bernardino
Casinillo
Castillo
Esteban
 DEFINITIONS
• Construction aggregate – or simply “aggregate” is a broad category of coarse
particulate material used in construction, including sand, gravel, crushed
stone, slag and recycled concrete. Aggregates are a component of composite
materials such as concrete and asphalt concrete; the aggregates serve as
reinforcement to add strength to the overall composite materials. Aggregates
are also used as base material under foundations, roads and railroads.

• Coarse aggregate – aggregates predominantly retained on the No. 4 (4.76-

mm) sieves.
 
• Fine aggregate – aggregate passing the 3/8-in. sieve and almost entirely
passing the No. 4 (4.76-mm) sieve and predominantly retained on the No. 200
(74-micron) sieves.
• Gravel – granular material predominantly retained on the No. 4
sieve and resulting from the natural disintegration and abrasion
of rock or processing of weakly bound conglomerate.
 
• Sand – granular material passing the 3/8-in sieve and almost
entirely passing the No. 4 sieve and predominantly retained on
the No. 200 sieve.

• Bank gravel – gravel found in the natural deposits, usually more

or less intermixed with fine materials such as sand or clay.
 
• Crushed gravel – the product resulting from the artificial
crushing of gravel with substantially all fragments having at
least one face resulting from fracture.
• Crushed stone - the product resulting from the artificial crushing
of rocks, boulders, or large cobblestones, substantially all faces of
which have resulted from the crushing operation.

• Crushed rock – the product resulting from the artificial crushing of

all rocks, all faces of which have resulted from the crushing
operation or from blasting.

• Blast furnace slag – the non-metallic product, consisting

essentially of silicates and aluminosilicates of lime and of other
bases, which is developed in a molten condition simultaneously
with iron in a blast furnace.

• Sieve analysis – the method of determining aggregate gradation

and maximum aggregate size.
Gravel Sand Crushed Gravel

Crushed Stone Blast Furnace Slag

• Specific gravity – is used to design and control mixes. It is
defined as the ratio of the weight of a substance to the weight
of an equal volume of water.
 
• Compaction – is the densification of a material resulting in an
increase in weight per unit volume.

• Underlying soil – is there naturally or may be hauled in to build

a fill or embankment. It is not considered to be an aggregate. It
is strengthened by compaction with heavy construction
equipment before a base or subbase is placed on it.

• Thawing – transitive and intransitive verb melt; to melt, or

make something melt.
• Abrasion – wearing away of rock; the erosion of bedrock by
continuous friction caused by rock fragments in water, wind,
or ice.

• Adhesion – sticking power; the ability to stick firmly to

something

• Breakwater – barrier protecting land from waves; an offshore

barrier that protects a harbor or other coastal area from the
full force of the sea.

• Groin – sea wall preventing land erosion; a structure

resembling a wall built out into a river or the sea to protect
the shore from erosion.
• Jetty – breakwater; a wall or other barrier built out into a
body of water to shelter a harbor, protect a shoreline from
erosion, or redirect water currents.

• Stabilization – stabilizing of something; the action of

becoming stable or of making something stable.

• Perforation – hole; a hole made in something.

 SOURCES

Primary sources:

• Bedrock
• Underwater sources
• Land sources
 DELETERIOUS MATTER

SEVEN TYPES OF DELETERIOUS MATTER AND ITS ALLOWABLE

LIMITS (ASTM C33):

• Friable particles
• Material finer than No. 200 sieve
• Soft Particles
• Lightweight particle
• Organic impurities
• Reactive aggregates
• Chert
 METHODS OF EXTRACTION AND
PROCESSING

• By Barge-mounted dredges
• By Power shovels
• By Draglines
• By Power Scrapers
• By Bulldozers
 SIZE AND GRADATION
• Range of Sizes • ASTM D451
• Gradation • ASTM D452
• Percent Retained • ASTM D456
• Cumulative Percent • Effective size
Retained • Maximum size of Aggregate
• Percent Passing • Fineness Modulus
• ASTM C136 • Uniformity coefficient
• ASTM C117
SIZE AND GRADATION

THREE TYPES OF GRADATION:

• Well graded
• Uniformly graded
• Gap graded or skip graded
 SURFACE AREA

Surface area = Ratio =

4πr2

Volume = 4πr3 /3
= 3/r
WEIGHT-VOLUME RELATIONSHIP

1. The volume of aggregate 4. The weight may include

may include solid matter, solid matter, plus enough
plus pores in the water to fill the pores,
particles, plus voids. This plus free water on the
is called bulk volume of particle surface. This is
aggregate. called wet weight.
2. The volume may include 5. The weight may include
solid matter, plus pores in solid matter, plus enough
the particles but not water to fill the pores.
voids. This is called the This is called saturated,
saturated, surface-dry surface-dry weight.
volume. 6. The weight may include
3. The volume may include solid matter only. This is
 SPECIFIC GRAVITY
2 KINDS OF SPECIFIC GRAVITY USED WITH
AGGREGATE PARTICLES:

• Bulk Specific Gravity

• Apparent Specific Gravity

DETERMINING SPECIFIC GRAVITY:

• Specific Gravity of Coarse Aggregate

• Specific Gravity of Fine Aggregate
 ROCK TYPES

Rock, from which most aggregate is derived, is of

three types according to origin - igneous,
sedimentary, and metamorphic.

1. Igneous rock – was at one time molten and

cooled to its present form. It varies in texture
from coarse grains to glasslike smoothness,
depending on how quickly it cooled.
ROCK TYPES

2. Sedimentary rock – at one time consist

particles deposited as sediment by water, wind
or, glacier. Most were deposited at the bottom
of lake or seas. The pressure of overlying
deposits together with the presence of
cementing materials combined to form rocks.
These rocks generally shows stratification
indicating the way it was laid down, it generally
breaks more easily along the lines of
stratification.
 ROCK TYPES

3. Metamorphic rock – is either igneous or

sedimentary rock that has been changed in
texture, structure and mineral composition, or
in one or two of these characteristics, by
intense geologic heat or pressure or both. It is
dense but often forms platy particles.
Aggregate is hard and strong, but its platy
shape is undesirable.
 SPECIAL AGGREGATES
• Lightweight aggregates has a unit weight of:
Fine aggregates – 70 lb per cu. ft. (1120 kg per m3)
Coarse aggregate – 55 lb per cu. ft. (880 kg per m3)
Fine and coarse aggregate – 55 lb per cu. ft. (880
kg per m3)

• Expanded slag or foamed slag is a hard mass of

light weight material which must be crushed into
aggregate size.
 SPECIAL AGGREGATES
Types of Lightweight Aggregates:
• Diatomite
• Fly ash
• Perlite
• Vermiculite
• Cinders
• Manufactured sands

Lightweight aggregate is sometimes incorporated into concrete

primarily for heat insulation.
ASTM C332. Lightweight Aggregates for Insulating Concrete, specifies a
maximum weight of 12 lb per cu. ft. (dry loose weight) for perlite and
10 lb per cu. ft. for vermiculite.
ASTM C641. Staining Materials in Lightweight Concrete Aggregates,
describes procedures for testing this tendency.
 SPECIAL AGGREGATES
Heavy aggregates are those with higher specific gravities than
those of aggregates in general use, although there is no
definite line separating them from ordinary aggregates.

Natural heavy mineral aggregates and ferrophosphorus are

described in ASTM C638, Constituents of Aggregates for
Radiation-Shielding Concrete, and general requirements are
specified in ASTM C637, Aggregates for Radiation-Shielding
Concrete.

Radiation Shielding is also accomplished by the inclusion of

natural boron minerals, or boron minerals heated to partial
fusion, as aggregates in the concrete shield. These are also
described in ASTM C638.
 STABILIZING AGGREGATES
1. Calcium chloride and Sodium chloride
2. Lime
3. Portland cement or Asphalt cement
 PERMEABILITY AND FILTERS
Permeability – is a measure of the ease with which a fluid,
most commonly water, will flow through a material.
Filter – consists of aggregate designed and installed for the
purpose of holding back particles larger than a certain size
while letting water flow through with a minimum of
interference.

FIVE TYPES OF FILTER:

• Underdrain
• Toe drain
• Gravel pack
• Water filter
• Sand filter
 PROPERTIES AND USES
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
-ABSORPTION, POROSITY AND PERMEABILTY
-SURFACE TEXTURE
-STRENGTH AND ELASTICITY
-AGGREGATE VOIDS
-HARDNESS AND TOUGHNESS
-PARTICLE SHAPE
-COATINGS
-SOUNDING
 PROPERTIES AND USES
UNDESIRABLE PHYSICAL COMPONENTS

-Non-durable soft or structurally

weak particles
-clay lumps or clay balls
-Organic matter Contaminants
-Lightweight Chert
CHEMICAL PROPERTIES

COMPOSITION

REACTIONS WITH
ASPHALT AND CEMENT

SURFACE CHARGE
TESTS
1. TOUGHNESS TEST
a. Los Angeles Abrasion Test (Quality Control Tool for Aggregate)
*ASTM C131 and C535
*AASHTO T-96
2. SOUNDNESS
a. AASHTO T-161
-resistance to disintegration and degradation
b. ASTM C88
-Use of Sodium Sulfate or Magnesium Sulfate
I. Immerse Aggregate
II. Remove then oven dry
III. Repeat the cycle then record the observations

3. HYDROPHILIC AGGREGATE
a. ASTM D1664
I. Aggregate is Completely Coated with Asphalt
II. Submerge in water for 16 to 18 hours
III. Visual Estimate
other Relevant Aggregate Tests
•ASTM C 136/AASHTO T 27; Standard Test Method for Sieve Analysis of
Fine and Coarse Aggregates
This test method covers the determination of the particle size distribution of fine and coarse
aggregates by sieving.
ASTM C 40: Standard Test Method for Organic Impurities in Fine
Aggregates for Concrete
This test method covers procedures for an approximate determination of the presence of injurious
organic impurities in fine aggregates that are to be used in hydraulic cement mortar or concrete.
Uses of Aggregates
•Ingredient for hotmix asphalt
•Ingredient for portland cement
concrete
•Backfill material
•Riprap
•Railways
•Designs/accessories for different sort of
things.