Answer to Question #300891 in Civil and Environmental Engineering for Glady_7

Question

Define the following terms:

a) Saturated Surface-Dry (SSD) conditions of aggregates

b) Absorption of aggregates

c) Free water on aggregates

Answer 1

a) Saturated surface dry (SSD) is defined as the condition of an aggregate in which the surfaces of the particles are "dry", for example, surface adsorption would no longer take place, but the inter-particle voids are saturated with water.

b) Absorption of aggregates is the increase in mass due to water in the pores of the material. Aggregate absorption is a useful quality because: High values can indicate non-durable aggregate. Absorption can indicate the amount of asphalt binder the aggregate will absorb.

c) Free water on aggregates is simply the difference between the mass of a sample of wet-saturated aggregate and the mass of the same sample in the saturated-surface-dry condition.