International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET)

Volume 7, Issue 3, MayJune 2016, pp. 233240, Article ID: IJCIET_07_03_023

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APPRAISAL ON THE STRENGTH OF

CONCRETE PRODUCED WITH VARYING
AGGREGATE SIZE
T.C. Nwofor and D.B. Eme
Department of Civil Engineering,
University of Port Harcourt, P.M.B 5323 Port Harcourt,
Rivers State, Nigeria
ABSTRACT
Compressive strength is one of the important properties of concrete as it
influences the durability requirements of concrete. This work presents the
effects of varying size of aggregate on the strength of concrete. The coarse
aggregates used for this study were 10mm, 12.5mm and 19mm uncrushed
gravel with river sand as fine aggregate. Sieve analysis was carried out on the
aggregates. A nominal mix of 1:2:4 was adopted for the mix and the mix
proportions were calculated by weight. The concrete test cubes used were
made in batches with each batch containing just one coarse aggregate size.
Two test cubes each were made respectively for each batch making a total of
18 cubes and cured for 7, 21, and 28 days respectively. Compressive strength
tests were carried out on all 18 test cubes and their compressive strength
values were recorded. The compressive strength was found to increase with
increase in coarse aggregate size with19mm gravel having as much as
36.31N/mm2.
Cite this Article: T.C. Nwofor and D.B. Eme, Appraisal on The Strength of
Concrete Produced with Varying Aggregate Size, International Journal of
Civil Engineering and Technology, 7(3), 2016, pp. 233240.
http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/issues.asp?JType=IJCIET&VType=7&IType=3

1. INTRODUCTION
Coarse aggregates are relatively inert material fillers which when combined with
cement and water forms a stone-like material called concrete (1-2]. Coarse aggregates
predominantly range from particle sizes of 5 mm to an average of 20 mm size and
most be properly graded to form dense concrete [3-7]. The coarse aggregate mainly
provides the necessary weight to the concrete, hence improving the volume stability
and durability of the concrete, thereby affecting the plastic and hardened state of
concrete through its physical characteristics [1, 8].

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T.C. Nwofor and D.B. Eme

Bayasi and Zhou [9] and Ruiz [10] reported that the compressive strength of
concrete increases with an increase in coarse aggregate content up to an optimum
proportion after which there is a marginal decrease and this strength property of
concrete is an important parameter in the design of structures [11-15]. The effect of
increase aggregate sizes as it affects the water-cement ratio have been studied [16].
The study suggested that increasing the maximum aggregate size reduced the total
surface area of the aggregate, thus reducing the mixing water requirements. However,
even with the reduction in water, a larger aggregate produced concrete with low
compressive strengths compared to concrete containing smaller aggregate.
This paper aims at investigating the effects of varying aggregate sizes on the
strength properties of concrete noting that other characteristics of concrete such
impermeability, durability and volume stability may be very important, the
compressive strength is considered the most viable property.

2. MATERIALS AND METHOD

The fine aggregate used in this study was natural river sand obtained from Imo River
in Oyigbo Local Government area of Rivers State, Nigeria. It was washed and airdried for two weeks before it was used for concrete work. The granite aggregates
were milled from crushed rock in Rivers State. The aggregates were thoroughly
washed and air-dried for a period of three weeks to remove dirt and later surface dried
before usage. The sizes of uncrushed gravel were 12.5mm, 19mm and 10mm
respectively. The brand of ordinary portland cement used as binder in this study. They
were brought to the laboratory in bags, carefully arranged and contact with moisture
was avoided. The water used for this study was colourless, odourless, tasteless and
fresh. The particle size distribution of fine and coarse aggregates was also carried out
in accordance with the requirements of BS 812, 1985.

2.1. Concrete Mix Design

For the purpose of uniformity and ease in evaluating the effect of coarse aggregate
size on concrete compressive strength, a nominal concrete mix of 1:2:4 was adopted
for each concrete mix containing the different coarse aggregate sizes with watercement ratio of 0.6 in compliance with BS 5328: part 1. The result obtained from mix
design is shown in Table 1.
Table 1 Concrete Constituents Mix Proportions
Mix Ratio
1:2:4

Quantities of Mix Constituents (g)

Batch No.
1

Cement
1157.28

Sand
2314.56

Gravel
4629.12

3. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

The values of compressive strength obtained for different aggregate sizes at varying
curing age of concrete are displayed in Table 2 to 10.

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Appraisal on The Strength of Concrete Produced with Varying Aggregate Size

Table 2 Compressive Strength Result at 7 Days for 10mm Coarse Aggregate Size

Weight of
Specimen
(g)
(g)

Cube Size
(mm)

7995
150x150x150
150x150x150 7983
7989
AVERAGE

Density of
Specimen
(kg/m3)
(kg/m3)

Age in
(Days)

2370

398

17.69

10mm aggregate size

2370
2370

7
7

508
453

22.58
20.13

"

Load
(KN)

Stress
(N/mm2)

Material &
Identification Mark

Table 3 Compressive Strength Result at 21 Days for 10mm Coarse Aggregate Size
Cube Size
(mm)
150x150x150
150x150x150
AVERAGE

Weight of
Specimen
(g)
(g)
8211
8119
8165

Density of
Specimen
(kg/m3)
(kg/m3)
2430
2410
2420

Age in
(Days)

21
21
21

Load
(KN)
673
652
663

Stress
(N/mm2)

Material &
Identification Mark

29.91
28.98
29.44

10mm aggregate size

"

Table 4 Compressive Strength Result at 28 Days for 10mm Coarse Aggregate Size

Cube Size
(mm)
150x150x150
150x150x150
AVERAGE

Weight of
Specimen
(g)
(g)
8110
8124
8117

Density of
Specimen
(kg/m3)
(kg/m3)
2400
2410
2405

Age in
(Days)

28
28
28

Load
(KN)

Stress
(N/mm2)

Material &
Identification Mark

398
508
703

31.02
31.47
31.24

10mm aggregate size

"

Table 5 Compressive Strength Result at 7 Days for 12.5mm Coarse Aggregate Size
Cube Size
(mm)

Weight of
Specimen
(g)

Density of
Specimen
(kg/m3)

Age in
(Days)

150x150x150

8042

2380

150x150x150
AVERAGE

8074
8058

2390
2385

Load
(KN)

Stress
(N/mm2)

521

23.26

7
7

540
531

24.00
23.58

Material &
Identification Mark
12.5mm aggregate
size
"

Table 6 Compressive Strength Result at 21 Days for 12.5mm Coarse Aggregate Size
Cube Size
(mm)

Weight of
Specimen
(g)

Density of
Specimen
(kg/m3)

Age in
(Days)

150x150x150
150x150x150
AVERAGE

7895
7798
7847

2340
2310
2325

21
21
21

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235

Load
(KN)

Stress
(N/mm2)

Material &
Identification Mark

760
748
754

33.78
33.24
33.51

12.5mm aggregate size

"

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T.C. Nwofor and D.B. Eme

Table 7 Compressive Strength Result at 28 Days for 12.5mm Coarse Aggregate Size
Cube Size
(mm)

Weight of
Specimen
(g)

Density of
Specimen
(kg/m3)

Age in
(Days)

150x150x150

7998

2370

150x150x150
AVERAGE

7860
7937

2340
2355

Load
(KN)

Stress
(N/mm2)

28

800

35.56

28
28

782
791

34.76
35.16

Material &
Identification Mark
12.5mm aggregate
size
"

Table 8 Compressive Strength Result at 7 Days for 19mm Coarse Aggregate Size

Cube Size
(mm)
150x150x150
150x150x150
AVERAGE

Weight of
Specimen
(g)
8323
8287
8305

Density of
Specimen
(kg/m3)
2470
2460
2465

Age in
(Days)
7
7
7

Load
(KN)

Stress
(N/mm2)

Material &
Identification Mark

537
553
545

23.87
24.58
24.22

19mm aggregate size

"

Table 9 Compressive Strength Result at 21 Days for 19mm Coarse Aggregate Size
Cube Size
(mm)
150x150x150
150x150x150
AVERAGE

Weight of
Specimen
(g)
8199
8203
8201

Density of
Specimen
(kg/m3)
2430
2430
2430

Age in
(Days)
21
21
21

Load
(KN)

Stress
(N/mm2)

Material &
Identification Mark

794
776
785

35.29
34.49
34.89

19mm aggregate size

"

Table 10 Compressive Strength Result at 28 Days for 19mm Coarse Aggregate Size
Cube Size
(mm)
150x150x150
150x150x150
AVERAGE

Weight of
Specimen
(g)
8224
8276
8250

Density of
Specimen
(kg/m3)
2440
2450
2445

Age in
(Days)
28
28
28

Load
(KN)

Stress
(N/mm2)

Material &
Identification Mark

810
824
817

36.00
36.62
36.31

19mm aggregate size

"

The compressive strength f cu was determined using:

P
A
Where:
P Maximum load on the cube at failure
A Cross-sectional area of the concrete cube specimen
f cu

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Appraisal on The Strength of Concrete Produced with Varying Aggregate Size

Table 11 Average Compressive Strength Values for Each Concrete Batch
Batch No.
1
2
3

7-Day
Strength

21-Day
Strength

28-Day
Strength

(N/mm2)

(N/mm2)

(N/mm2)

20.13
23.58
24.22

29.44
33.51
34.89

31.24
35.16
36.31

Coarse Aggregate Size

(mm)/ Batch
10 (batch 1)
12.5 (batch 2)
19 (batch 3)

A summary of average compressive strength development in concrete at different

curing age for the different aggregate sizes is shown in Table 11 and plotted in Figure
1.
40

compressive strength (N/mm2)

35
30
25

batch 1
20

batch 2

15

batch 3

10
5
0
7 days

21 days

28 days

Figure 1 Strength Development of the Concrete Test Cubes at varying Aggregate Size

For batch 1 concrete cubes made with 10mm coarse aggregate size, about 65%
strength was gained after 7 days while for batch 2 and batch 3 concrete cubes made
with 12.5mm and 19mm coarse aggregate sizes respectively, about 67% each of the
total strength had been reached after 7 days.
The bar chart below shows clearly the effect of the coarse aggregate size on the
compressive strength of the different batches of concrete cubes casted using only the
values for 28th day strength.

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T.C. Nwofor and D.B. Eme

28 - day compressive strength (N/mm2)

40
38
36

10mm

34

12.5mm

32

19mm

30
28

Figure 2. 28th day Compressive Strength for the Concrete Cubes made with different Coarse
Aggregate Size.

28-day compressive strength (N/mm2)

From Figure 2, it can be observed that as aggregate size increases, the

compressive strength increases generally. Thus compressive strength and aggregate
size can be related as shown in Figure 3, using only the values for 28th day strength.
37
36
35
34
33
32
31
30
10

12.5

19

Coarse aggregate size (mm)

Figure 3 Relationship between Aggregate Size and Compressive Strength at 28th Day

Compressive strength values for 7-day strength and 28-day strength for all
concrete mix batches agree favorably with Table 12 of BS 12 for concrete made with
Portland cement and strength class of 32.5N (C30 grade).

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Appraisal on The Strength of Concrete Produced with Varying Aggregate Size

Table 12 Compressive Strength Requirements for Concrete made with Portland Cement
according to BS 12
Early Strength
2 days
7 days
2
(N/mm )
(N/mm2)
16
10
10
20
20
20
-

Class of
Strength
G32.5
G32.5
G42.5
G42.5
G52.5
G62.5

Standard Strength
28 days
2
(N/mm )
(N/mm2)
32.5

52.5

42.5

62.5

52.5
62.5

72.5
-

In compliance with Table 1 of BS 5328: part 4 shown above, the 28-day

compressive strength for the concrete cubes made for all batches exceeds the
characteristic strength (30N/mm2) by at least 1N/mm2, thereby satisfying the
requirements in the code. Therefore, the compressive test results are within acceptable
limits.

4. CONCLUSSION
From the study, the following conclusions are made.

After 7 days, strength had developed in the concrete cubes to approximately twothirds of the 28-day strength which is within acceptable limits.

The results of this work show that for an increase in coarse aggregate size from
10mm to 19mm at constant water content, the compressive strength increased by
about 16.2 percent.
The slump value for the mix batch 3containing 19mm uncrushed gravel was higher
than that of mix batch 2 containing 12.5mm uncrushed gravel. This indicates that
water content was increased for mix batch 3 due to a poor level of workmanship.
The results of this work agree with Ruiz [10] who after their investigations on the
effect of aggregate size on compressive strength stated that strength increases with
increase in aggregate size by about 10 percent.

The result of this work then tends to disagree with Bloem [16] and Walker [20], who
all concluded that compressive strength decreases with increase in aggregate size by
about 10 percent.

4.1. Recommendation

The compressive strength of concrete produced with aggregates size beyond 19 mm

is recommended to be considered.
Further research work considering other attributes of aggregates such as type and
texture is recommended

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T.C. Nwofor and D.B. Eme

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