The Relationships Between Absorption, Alterability and Granulation of Coarse Aggregates from Different Lithologies from Southern Brazil

Abstract

This paper studies the mathematical and statistical correlations between absorption, alterability, and granulation of aggregates from different lithological origins in southern Brazil. In order to achieve this goal, a petrographic analysis of the aggregates was carried out, in addition to a qualitative evaluation of granulation/alterability and absorption tests for the 1/2” (12.5 mm), 3/8” (9.5 mm), and #4 (4.75 mm) sieve. Statistical analysis relied on the Shapiro-Wilk and Breusch-Pagan tests, using R-Studio software. The results show that the variables “granulation” and “alteration” exhibit satisfactory correlations with the variable “absorption”, indicating that the larger the grain size the lower the absorption, while the higher the alteration the higher the absorption. The more the particle size decreases, the greater the variable “absorption” can explain “granulation”. Regarding the alteration and absorption degree, the analysis was not feasible, since the analyzed group that included high absorption and low alteration volcanic rocks could modify the trend, contradicting the consensus that the more altered the rock, the more it absorbs. Overall, the employed methodology proved to be satisfactory for the database analyzed, with the suggestion of increasing the number of samples in future studies.