EFFECTS OF AGGREGATE SIZES ON THE

CONCRETE STRENGTH
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT SAMPLE
First and foremost, my gratitude goes to God Almighty, who has been so
merciful and generous in my life.

I am highly indebted to my parents who have vowed to leave no stone

unturned in their quest to give me formal education. May God bless them.

Last but not the least, when a tedious job has been done, one has to refer
back and think who and who contributed towards the success of the job.
As a matter of fact, I must acknowledge my debt of gratitude to my project
supervisor, Mr./Mrs. ……………………………..without whose diligent
guidance and advice this study would not have seen the light of the day.

I also wish to place on record the invaluable help and commitment

rendered by my friends and well-wishers for the moral and financial
support given to me throughout the course of my study.

My thanks and appreciations go to my senior sister Mrs.

……………………………. and her husband for their financial contributions
toward the successful completion of my academic career.

Also I must acknowledge the contribution given to me by

…………………………, my greetings extended to him due to his moral
assisting, advice, understanding, lovely, caring and financing support
through out my academic pursuit.

My sincere thanks go to all those who have assisted me in one way or the
other during the collection of materials and data necessary for the research
work who in spite of their crowded responsibilities still had time to provide
me with a good number of relevant materials for this work.

Finally, my special thanks go to my parents Mr. & Mrs.

………………………… also my humble sisters and brothers for their
understanding, love, caring and financial assistance in the time of
difficulties throughout the period of my staying in the school.

My prayer is that God will reward those that contributed immensely for me
towards this project directly or indirectly.

ii
 DEDICATION SAMPLE

This project is dedicated to Almighty God, the owner and giver of

wisdom and knowledge and to the Holy Spirit, the Great teacher,
because man plans his way but, God directs his steps. May his
name be highly glorified. Amen.

iii
 ABSTRACT

In the sense that the materials involved in this project were capital intensive

more especially cement, so in carrying out the work one must have to be

careful in the selection and collection of materials to be used in the casting of

the concrete.

The materials used are coarse aggregate (granite) fine aggregate (sand). The

coarse aggregates used in this work were collected from ishiagu while the fine

aggregate was collected in front of the carpentry’s workshop on the campus.

The test conform to the standard method test, the ratio used was 1:2:4 and the

method adopted was batching by weight, from the mix ratio the relative weight

for each material to be used for concrete cube cast was 36, these cubes were

tested for compressive strength of 7, 14 and 28 days.

The results of tests involved in the work and that of compressive strength tests

were calculated and tabulated as shown in the final tabulation of results.

With the above information, I now recommend and therefore conclude.

iv
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title page

Latter of transmittal

Approval page

Dedication

Acknowledgement

Abstract

Table of contents

CHAPTER ONE

1.1 THE PROJECT OBJECTIVES

CHAPTER TWO

2.1 MATERIALS FOR CONCRETE

2.2 Aggregates introduction

2.2.1 Fine Aggregate/Sand

2.2.2 Coarse Aggregate/Granite

v
CHAPTER THREE

3.0 MIXING OF THE CONCRETE

CHAPTER FOUR

4.0 PREPARATION FOR PLACING AND COMPACTION

CHAPTER FIVE

5.0 CURING

CHAPTER SIX

6.0 TESTING OF HARDENED CONCRETE AND TABULATION OF

RESULTS

CHAPTER SEVEN

7.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION

Bibliography

vi
 CHAPTER ONE

THE PROJECT OBJECTIVES

The project has some aims of verification. One of the most important purposes

of this project is to compare the strength of concrete made with granite of

different sizes eg 20, 15, 10 and 5mm. These same types of concrete are made

under the same mix proportion.

Another purpose also is to know the compressive strength of concrete at

different ages.

vii
 CHAPTER TWO

MATERIALS FOR CONCRETE

The type of cement used for the cubes making is the ordinary Portland cement.
This is the commonest cement in use, about 30 percent of all cement used in
Nigeria today.
Ordinary Portland cement is equitably suitable for use in general concrete
construction when there is no exposure to sulphate in the soil or in the ground
water.
The chemical composition according to British BS 12;1978, specified time
saturation factor to be not greater than 1 or and not less than 0.66.
However, there is no chemical composition test that is carried out. Such
chemical test or cement like hydration of cement using the chatlies apparatus;
test for soundness, and test strength of cement using Briquette for the tension
test of mortar. The six properties required of cement are
1) Fined

2) Strength in compressor

3) Chemical composition

4) Soundness

5) Setting time and hardening times

6) Heat of hydration

viii
 AGGREGATE

INTRODUCTION

Three quarters of the total value of concrete is occupied by aggregate. It is

therefore, of great importance to consider the quality. Not only may the

aggregate limit the strength of concrete but the properties of aggregate greatly

effect the durability and structural performance of concrete.

However, aggregate considered poor in more than one respect is unlikely to

make a satisfactory concrete, so that the tests on aggregate alone are of help in

assessing its suitability for the use in concrete generally the main aggregates

used for this particular work were

1. Sand or fine aggregate

2. Cement

3. Gravel

Some are of the primary of the project to compare concrete cube made of the

same coarse aggregate but of different size. It is of importance to note that the

gravel are considered as coarse aggregate. The mix contains the same quantity

of fine aggregate and the sizes of coarse aggregates are different. However,

ix
before going further it is necessary to look into some properties of these

aggregate used for the job.

SAND FINE AGGREGATE

This is an inert material and it functions in the concrete as a filler. It prevents

shrinkage as well as cracking in the concrete.

The natural fine aggregate used for the project was collected from a heap in

front of the carpentry’s workshop IMT Campus 111. This natural sand is

covered in the British Standard B.S 882, 195 or the Nigerian industrial

standards N.I.S.B or N.I.S 16 for concrete aggregate from natural sources.

FINE AGGREGATE
Any inert material which passes through the sieve (mesh) 4.75mm, 6.5mm and

are retained in 0.15mm sieve is regarded as or classified as fine aggregate

while the particles that do not pass the 4.75mm or 5mm mesh is referred to as

coarse aggregate mainly pass a 4.75mm B.S. sieve and containing only so

much coarse aggregate as is permitted for the various grading zones described

in B.S and is consists of small grians of sillica and it is formed by the

disintegration by the process of weathering.

x
COARSE AGGREGATE
The term coarse aggregate shall mean an aggregate mainly retained on a 3/10

in (475mm) B.S. sieve and containing only so much fine material as is

permitted for the various sizes described in B.S coarse aggregate may be

described as uncrushed gravel, crushed gravel.

xi
 CHAPTER THREE

CONCRETE MIXING
INTRODUCTION

The object of mixing is to coat the surface of all aggregate particles with

cement paste, and to blend all the ingredient of cement into uniform mass, the

process of discharging from the mixer must furthermore not disturb this

informing.

In concrete engineering the techniques of mixing is by hand and machine. In

hand mixing uniformity is more difficult to achieve, particular care and effort

are necessary. However, the method adopted for this particular project is hand

mixing.

This method is described below

This is a report on the mixing of concrete for cubes making.

LOCATION

The mixing was carried out inside the concrete laboratory department of civil

engineering IMT Enugu.

xii
TOOLS / MATERIALS USED

A hard surface platform, shovels, bucket of water, measuring cylinder and

mould.

PROCEDURE

Cement, sand and washed gravel were carefully measured in the closet range of

proportion given.

The mix proportions used are 1:2:4 some calculations were made with the

proportion.

Since I represent cement, 2 represents and 4 represents gravel. It was assumed

that 1 cube weight is 8.4kg and 3 cubes each of the coarse aggregate were

moulded

CONCRETE BATCHING (BY WEIGHT)

RATIO = 1:2:4

=7

xiii
CUBE WEIGHT = 8.4

1 = CEMENT

2 = SAND

3 = GRANITE/COARSE AGGREGATE

4 NO OF CUBE = 3 CUBES PER AGE OF EACH SIZE CEMENT

1/7 X 8.4 X3 = 3.6KG

SAND

2/7 X 8.4 X 3 = 7.2KG

GRANITE

4/7 X 8.4 X 3 = 14.4KG

WATER CEMENT RATIO

WATER/CEMENT = 0.55

H2O/3.6 = 0.55

H2O = 1.98 = 1980CM3

After the calculation the samples were weighed. After weighing the material

was mixed properly with shovel, turning the mixture from side to side and

xiv
cutting on the platform three times. When the heap showed an even colour

throughout, the mix was ready for the addition of the 1980 cm3 of water. The

mixture was turned again, usually three times, until it appears uniform in

colour and consistence.

OBSERVATION: A lot of turning were observed which contributes to the

strength of the concrete.

1. The mixing was done on a hot afternoon day. In fact this contributed to

evaporation loss of water.

2. The cement platform was very dry, the dried surface absorbed water

from the concrete mixture.

3. Mixing time was adversely affected. In theory, the mixing time does not

exceed two to three minutes, after water has been added. This theoretical time

specified was greatly exceeded.

xv
 CHAPTER FOUR

PREPARATION OF MOULD FOR PLACING

The mould used for this project are cast iron moulds. They are 150mm cubes

with the spanner. The nuts of the moulds were assembled and tightened. The

mould and their base were clamped together during casting as these reduced

leakage of mortar. Before assembling the mould, the surface was matted by

covering it with oil (grease oil) and a thin layer of similar oil was applied to the

inside surface of the mould in order to prevent the development of bound

between the mould and the concrete.

HANDLING: The distance from mixing place to point of placing was very

close. Fresh mixed concrete, and carried fresh mixed concrete were carried by

head pan and placed with towel.

PLACING/COMPACTION: This was done in accordance with the standard

specification as 1881: part 3: 1970. the mould was fined in three layers. Each

layer of concrete was compacted by not less than 25 stroked.

xvi
A mechanical hand operated compactor was available in the concrete lab. The

cast iron cube was placed on the round base of the radiator and the number of

strokes for each layer was counted.

The mould was even filled to overflow. And after compaction, excess concrete

was removed with a trowel after the top surface of the cube has been finished

by means of a trowel. All the cubes were serially arranged in the concrete

laboratory. After the setting of the concrete poster, the cubes were marked for

identification. It has to be note that the three cubes of concrete received a

uniform compaction.

xvii
 CHAPTER FIVE

CURING

The cubes were stored in an undistributed condition for 24hours at a normal

temperature and pressure. At the end of this period, the mould was entrapped

and the cube was further cured in water. This is the BS 1881: part 3: 1970

standard method of curing used in the laboratory and with wider limits to

determine the potential quantity of the concrete. Sometimes the moulds are

protected from containers.

In warm weather, the temperature of concrete could size to high and a loss of

strength would result.

For this project the cubes were installed in a water tank in concrete laboratory

of IMT in actual practice, curing lasted for seven (7) days, 14 days and 28

days.

The objective of curing is to keep concrete saturated or as nearly saturated as

possible, with the originally water filled space in the fresh cement pester.

xviii
 CHAPTER SIX

TESTING OF HARDENED CONCRETE

Testing of hardened concrete can be made for different purposes but the two

objectives of tests are concrete of quality and compliance with specifications.

Other tests can be made for a particular purpose eg knocking the compressive

strength test of concrete made with the same aggregates of different sizes or

compressive strength tests to determine the strength of concrete at transfer of

perspires or at the time of striking the form work.

The main objective of performing the cube test is to determine the crushing

strength of the concrete when produced. Some pieces of information that will

be given to the Engineer about the cube specimen are:

 The date it was performed, the method of compaction adopted, the

method of curing used, the workability of the fresh concrete used, the

age of the cube and the size of the cube.

 Some factors governing the compressive strength that will be attained by

concrete cube are; the type of cement used, the mixture proportions used,

xix
 the temperature of the whether, the length of curing age of the

compaction given to each.

 A total of 36 cubes of different aggregate sizes of various ages ranging

fro 7, 14 and 28 days were crushed. Prior to crushing in the machine the

cubes were weighed in air and in water. The essence is to determine the

weight and apparent weight of the cubes (ie the specific gravity).

TESTIING OF COMPRESSION SPECIMEN

Some of the properties of hardened concrete are strength, durability,

permeability, shrinkage and deformation etc. In strength of hardened concrete

it is divided into two main types they are compressive and tensile strength.

Compressive strength can be stated as the maximum compressive load it can

carry per unit area. In determining the compressive strength of concrete used,

we made use of the mechanical and electrical device machine.

The compressive test is conducted using the method that follows – the cast

concrete was placed in between the plates of the machine, ensure that the

smooth part of the cube is in contact with the plates of the machine before the

handle of the machine is pressed to and fro. The hydraulic line is tightened.

xx
The machine has two minutes hands with red and black colour. When the

minute hands start to move, they indicate that compression has started taking

place in the cube (ie the plates and cubes have made contact) But at a point, the

red minute hand will then stand still, and the black one starts to fall back and

finally returns to its origin. At this point, the red minute hand indicates the

maximum crushing strength of the cubes. After taking the reading the hydraulic

line is released for the plates to return to the set level.

The cubes were tested for 7, 14 and 28 days and readings are computed as

shown below and final tabulation is recorded.

STRENGTH (N/MM2)

Strength of A1 = 460 x 1000/1502 = 460,000/22500 = 20.4N/MM2

Strength of A2 = 470 x 1000/1502 = 470000/22500 = 20.8N/MM2

Strength of A3 = 460 x 1000/1502 = 460000/22500 = 20.4N/MM2

Strength of A4 = 525 x 1000/1502 = 525000/22500 = 23.3N/MM2

Strength of A5 = 530 x 1000/1502 = 530000/22500 = 23.5N/MM2

Strength of A6 = 520 x 1000/1502 = 520000/22500 = 23.1N/MM2

xxi
Strength of A7 = 635 x 1000/1502 = 635000/22500 = 28.2N/MM2

Strength of A8 = 620 x 1000/1502 = 620000/22500 = 27.5N/MM2

Strength of A9 = 625 x 1000/1502 = 625000/22500 = 27.7N/MM2

Strength of B1 = 295 x 1000/1502 = 295000/22500 = 13.1N/MM2

Strength of B2 = 300 x 1000/1502 = 300000/22500 = 13.3N/MM2

Strength of B3 = 305 x 1000/1502 = 305000/22500 = 13.5N/MM2

Strength of B4 = 340 x 1000/1502 = 340000/22500 = 15.1N/MM2

Strength of B5 = 345 x 1000/1502 = 345000/22500 = 15.3N/MM2

Strength of B6 = 345 x 1000/1502 = 345000/22500 = 15.3N/MM2

Strength of B7 = 385 x 1000/1502 = 385000/22500 = 17.1N/MM2

Strength of B8 = 395 x 1000/1502 = 395000/22500 = 17.5N/MM2

Strength of B9 = 395 x 1000/1502 = 395000/22500 = 17.5N/MM2

Strength of C1 = 310 x 1000/1502 = 310000/22500 = 13.7N/MM2

xxii
Strength of C2 = 320 x 1000/1502 = 320000/22500 = 14.2N/MM2

Strength of C3 = 305 x 1000/1502 = 305000/22500 = 13.5N/MM2

Strength of C4 = 430 x 1000/1502 = 430000/22500 = 19.1N/MM2

Strength of C5 = 435 x 1000/1502 = 435000/22500 = 19.3N/MM2

Strength of C6 = 430 x 1000/1502 = 430000/22500 = 19.1N/MM2

Strength of C7 = 570 x 1000/1502 = 570000/22500 = 25.3N/MM2

Strength of C8 = 550 x 1000/1502 = 550000/22500 = 24.4N/MM2

Strength of C9 = 560 x 1000/1502 = 560000/22500 = 24.8N/MM2

Strength of D1 = 105 x 1000/1502 = 105000/22500 = 4.6N/MM2

Strength of D2 = 110 x 1000/1502 = 110000/22500 = 4.8N/MM2

Strength of D3 = 100 x 1000/1502 = 100000/22500 = 4.4N/MM2

Strength of D4 = 175 x 1000/1502 = 175000/22500 = 7.7N/MM2

Strength of D5 = 180 x 1000/1502 = 180000/22500 = 8.0N/MM2

Strength of D6 = 185 x 1000/1502 = 185000/22500 = 8.2N/MM2

xxiii
Strength of D7 = 205 x 1000/1502 = 205000/22500 = 9.1N/MM2

Strength of D8 = 200 x 1000/1502 = 200000/22500 = 8.8N/MM2

Strength of D9 = 205 x 1000/1502 = 205000/22500 = 9.1N/MM2

Cub Date Date Ag Aggreg Mi Wei Weig Crus Stren Avera

e Cast Crush e ate x ght ht In hed gth ge

Typ ed ed Size Rat In Wate Stren N/M N/M

e (Mm) io Air r (G) gth m2 m2

(G) (Kn)
A1 30/6/ 7/7/0 7 20 1:2: 860 4200 460 20.4

04 4 4 0 20.5
A2 “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “
A3 “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “ “

A4 29/6/ 13/7/ 14 20 1:2: 862 4320 525 23.3

04 04 4 0
23.3
A5 “ “ “ “ “ 852 4700 530 23.5

0
A6 “ “ “ “ “ 860 4300 520 23.1

xxiv
A7 28/6/ 26/7/ 28 20 1:2: 860 4630 635 28.2

04 04 4 0 27.8
A8 “ “ “ “ “ 850 4420 620 27.5

0
A9 “ “ “ “ “ 872 4040 625 27.7

Cub Date Date Ag Aggreg Mi Wei Weig Crus Stren Avera

e Cast Crush e ate x ght ht In hed gth ge

Typ ed ed Size Rat In Wate Stren N/M N/M

e (Mm) io Air r (G) gth m2 m2

(G) (Kn)
C1 17/6/ 24/7/ 7 15 1:2: 820 4100 310 13.7

04 04 4 0 13.8
C2 “ “ “ “ “ 830 4210 320 14.2

0
C3 “ “ “ “ “ 815 4700 305 13.5

C4 15/6/ 29/7/ 14 15 1:2: 846 4250 430 19.1

04 04 4 0

xxv
C5 “ “ “ “ “ 856 4010 435 19.3 19.2

0
C6 “ “ “ “ “ 840 4200 430 19.1

C7 15/6/ 13/7/ 28 15 1:2: 792 3850 570 25.3

04 04 4 0 24.8
C8 “ “ “ “ “ 758 3500 550 24.4

0
C9 “ “ “ “ “ 750 3250 560 24.8

Cub Date Date Ag Aggreg Mi Wei Weig Crus Stren Avera

e Cast Crush e ate x ght ht In hed gth ge

Typ ed ed Size Rat In Wate Stren N/M N/M

e (Mm) io Air r (G) gth m2 m2

(G) (Kn)
D1 30/6/ 7/7/0 7 5 1:2: 700 3500 105 4.6

04 4 4 0 4.6
D2 “ “ “ “ “ 750 3750 110 4.8

0
D3 “ “ “ “ “ 715 3600 100 4.4

xxvi
D4 29/6/ 13/7/ 14 5 1:2: 690 3450 175 7.7

04 04 4 0 7.9
D5 “ “ “ “ “ 695 3470 180 8.0

0
D6 “ “ “ “ “ 700 3500 185 8.2

D7 16/6/ 14/7/ 28 5 1:2: 701 3100 205 9.1

04 04 4 0 9.0
D8 “ “ “ “ “ 700 3000 200 8.8

0
D9 “ “ “ “ “ 705 3100 205 9.1

xxvii
 RECOMMENDATION

1. The concrete made with size 20mm is normal weight aggregate

concrete or normal size of gravel for any concrete work.

2. Concrete made with size 20mm will be suitable for load bearing

structure usually for reinforce concrete wall.

3. Concrete made of size 15mm should be used in the slab

reinforcement and beam reinforcement.

4. Size 20mm should also be used in the reinforced concrete columns

and construction work under water and soil. Moreover, it is suitable

for use in the construction of piers. It can be used where the ultimate

moment of resistance is very high.

xxviii
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Arroyd, T. N. n. (19620: Concrete Properties and Manufacture.

B. S. 1881 Part I: (1920) method of Sampling Fresh Concrete.

B. S. 1881: Part II (1970)

B. S. 1881: Part III (1970): Method of Testing Concrete for Strength.

Ewery, R. H. (1963): Concrete Practice vol. II London.

Neville A. M. (1975): Properties of Concrete.

Portland Cement Association (1975) Principles of Quality Conrete.

Road Research Laboratory (1975): Design of normal concrete mixes.

xxix