How To Carry Out Water Absorption Test On Stone Aggregates | Steps & Procedures
Water absorption test is used for determining the rate at which stone aggregates absorb or take in water or moisture. To execute this test, normally, cube specimens weighing about 50 grams are prepared and the test is carried out on them.
Follow these steps to determine the water absorption of stone aggregates:
- Weigh the specimens and note their initial weight W1.
- Place the specimens in water for a period of 24 hours.
- Take specimens out of the water and wipe the surfaces with a dry piece of cloth and weigh them. Let this weight be denoted as W2.
- Suspend specimens freely in water and weigh them. Let the weights so determined be W3.
- Place the specimens in boiling water for a period of 5 hours, then lift them out of the water. Wipe the surfaces with a piece of dry cloth and weigh specimens. Let the weight so determined be W4.
Then mathematically, we can compute the percentage absorption by weight, percentage absorption by volume, percentage porosity by volume, density, specific gravity and the saturation coefficient.
Find Percentage Absorption by Weight = [(W2-W1)/W1] x 100
Find Percentage Absorption by Volume = [(W2-W1)/(W2-W3)] x 100
Find Percentage Porosity by Volume = [(W4-W1)/(W2-W3)] x 100
Find Density = W1/(W2-W1)
Find Specific Gravity = W1/(W2-W3)
Saturation Coefficient = Water Absorption/Total Porosity
= (W2-W1)/(W4-W1)
