ATENEO DE DAVAO UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURE

E. Jacinto St., Davao City

LABORATORY EXERCISE # 3
SIEVE ANALYSIS OF COARSE AGGREGATES

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for

CE 2234
Submitted to:
Engr. Robert Romero, MSE

Submitted by:
CVEng-2A

Lavarias, Lorenz Jay G.

Date of Submission: November 29, 2019
OBJECTIVES:
 To learn how sieve analysis is done for coarse aggregates.
 To determine the particle size distribution of coarse aggregates sample.

INTRODUCTION
Grading of course aggregates, also called the testing and analysis of it has been used mainly as an
economical factor in concrete making. As more aggregates need less water and less cement, however its
compressive strength is lesser compared to a concrete that uses finer aggregates but it needs more water and
cement to be made.

Under AASHTO M 80 and ASTM C 33, it states that the maximum size of aggregate particles generally
should not exceed:
 One-fifth the narrowest dimension of a concrete member
 Three-Quarters the clear spacing between reinforcing bars and forms
 One-third the depth of slabs
These limitations are set for the loading and strength purposes of the concrete, however all the coarse
aggregates size restriction are dependent of the engineer’s design of the concrete, it is ultimatelt the engineer
that sets the parameters for the sizes of coarse aggregates.

APPARATUS/MATERIALS NEEDED
 Sieves (5)
3 1 3 1
1" (1), "(1), " (1), "(1), " (1), 0.187"(1),
4 2 8 4
 Shovel or Trowel
 Weighing Scale
 Coarse Aggregates
 Electric Sieve Shaker

PROCEDURES
1. Prepare the sieves with suitable sizes to be used for the sieve analysis.
2. Arrange the sieves from the top to bottom in decreasing sizes.
3. Prepare 3 kilograms of coarse aggregates ( 1 kilograms for each trial).
4. Place 1 kilogram of sample coarse aggregates on the top sieve and cover it.
5. Place the stack of sieves on the electric sieve shaker and lock it in place so that the sieves will
not be loose and get knocked off.
 6. Turn on the electric sieve shaker and wait for 3 minutes.
7. Separate every sieve from the stack of sieves.
8. Weigh the aggregates from the sieves accordingly and tally its value.
9. Repeat this process twice to serve as the other two trials
10. Do the necessary calculations for the sieve analysis.

DATA

Pictures

COLLECTION OF TOTAL SAMPLE

METHOD A – MECHANICAL SPLITTER

FEEDING TOTAL SAMPLE IN THE CHUTE DISTRIBUTE THE AGGREGATES EVENLY

 DIVISION OF AGGREGATES IN THE CATCH BASIN

METHOD B – QUARTERING USING A SHOVEL

FORMING A CONICAL PILE

FLATTENING OF THE PILE

DIVISION OF THE PILE INTO 4

EQUAL PARTS
REMOVING DIAGONALLY
OPPOSITE QUARTERS
METHOD C – QUARTERING USING A CLOTH

FORMATION OF CONICAL PILE FLATTENING OF THE CONICAL PILE

DIVISION OF THE PILE BY CLOTH CHOOSING DIAGONALLY OPPOSITE QUARTER

REMOVAL OF THE CHOSEN QUARTERS

REMARKS
In this laboratory activity, members should be collecting a sample that represents the whole stack of
aggregates to be tested. Before using the different types of reducing, the whole sample must be mixed well to
get more accurate tested sample. The activity must be done on a flat and clean surface to reduce errors. This
activity must be taken seriously because as future engineers, these methods are useful most especially in future
projects involving testing of materials or soil.

CONCLUSION
From this laboratory experiment, I conclude that there are a lot of methods in reducing the sample
aggregates to a testing size but based on our activity, these methods must be based from the quality and
properties of the tested sample. Like in our laboratory activity, we used the mechanical splitter when our sample
is the coarse aggregate with large rocks and quartering method when dealing with finer aggregate. As a
summary, these methods can be useful when we are in a school or in a testing area but when we are in the field
it is too hard to apply these methods but the importance of the knowing these methods are as engineers we
should not be biased when testing a said soil or sample.