Measuring Rocks

08/15/2013 10:23 AM

Graduate student Eduardo Madrigal Ortiz  is washing coarse aggregates to ensure an aggregate dust-free surface before obtaining its shape properties. This is one the most important tasks as it influences measurement results. Madrigal Ortiz washes the material before scanning it with the Aggregate Image Measurement System (AIMS), if the material is not washed properly, he will obtain poor AIMS results. This means that the so-called Aggregate Shape Properties will be measured in a wrong way, eventually leading to classify the material in a category that does not correspond. Finally, if this happens, the material (which is used for pavement construction) does not contain the adequate shape properties to be used for high-quality pavement design. The material is then dried in order to complete the AIMS scanning process.