Relationships between mineralogical and physico-mechanical properties of granitic aggregates

Abstract

Several parameters are involved in the choice of the aggregates for concrete with good features: size, texture, quality, mineralogy, shape ... This work presents a study to characterize these materials through their geometrical properties (size, shape and size distribution), mechanical (uniaxial compressive strength and modulus of elasticity), physical (porosity, water absorption) and finally chemical and mineralogical properties. The relationships between mineralogical and physico-mechanical properties of granitic rocks from the Haute Garonne, France, were investigated. The relationships between these properties are described by simple regression analyzes. The results indicate that feldspar, chlorite and quartz contents of the studied rock-types significantly influence their physico-mechanical properties. Additionally, we find that the mechanical properties in compression are much higher when the mass percentage of quartz is important.