Measurement of particle size distribution and specific surface area for crushed concrete aggregate fines

Abstract Different methods for measuring particle size distribution (PSD) and specific surface area of crushed aggregate fines (⩽250 μm), produced by high-speed vertical shaft impact (VSI) crushing of rock types from different quarries in Norway, have been investigated. Among all the methods studied, X-ray sedimentation is preferred because it has adequate resolution and requires fewer and more reliable input parameters. This combination makes it suitable for practical applications at hard rock quarries. X-ray microcomputed tomography (μCT) combined with spherical harmonic analysis was applied to estimate the actual error introduced when PSD measurements were used to calculate the specific surface area of the VSI crushed rock fines. The μCT results, to the limit of their resolution, show that the error in the calculated surface area caused by assuming spherical particles (a common assumption in PSD measurements) is of unexpectedly similar magnitude (−20% to −30%) over the entire investigated particle size range, which was approximately 3–200 μm. This finding is important, because it simplifies relative surface area determination and is thought to be quite general, since the crushed aggregate fines investigated were produced from 10 rock types that had a wide range of mineralogies.