Evolution of Fine Aggregate Industry in India:

The attempts to produce crushed or manufactured sand in India could be traced to early 50's
primarily in major dam works. The focus was on using different size reduction techniques with
available resources like rod mills, roller -crushers, and cone crushers.
The absence of research in the reputed Civil Engineering Institutions about manufactured sand
aided a lot of unscrupulous quarry operators to perpetuate the myth that quarry dust can be used
in production of concrete either by complete or partial replacement of river sand.
Early sources of fine & coarse aggregates (20mm and 10mm):
The river sand, pebbles and gravel sourced from river beds were used as fine and coarse
aggregates.
The insufficient quantities and inconsistent quality forced the construction industry to explore
the possibility of sizing down the locally available rock formations using the crushers to produce
coarse aggregates of 20mm and 10mm.
The type of machinery used was single stage crushers and later upgraded to two stage crushers.
The waste product generated in the process is quarry dust which was being given free in the
early days is being offered today as a replacement for river sand.
Emergence of Manufactured Sand
The progress in the building material research and identification of role of particle shape and
gradation of fine aggregates triggered the use of manufactured sand in the production of
concrete. The complexity of construction and use of high strength concrete in large number of
buildings is the prime mover along with the scarcity of river sand in many cities.

Technical Perspective
Introduction:
The use of manufactured sand as a replacement for river sand is increasing with the ban on sand
mining implemented by different states. The other factors are the general decline in the
availability of river sand and pressure from active environmental groups to protect the nature.
Urban growth:
The phenomenal rise in the construction activity in the last decade has contributed to the wide
gap between the supply and demand of river sand. A lot of damage has been caused to the eco-
systems by carrying out dredging operations on the sand beds leading to the depletion of ground
water levels in the country.
Role of fine aggregates in concrete:
It is accepted fact that sand plays a very important role in the production of concrete. The
features of workability, strength and durability are directly dependent on the properties of the
sand used in the making of concrete.
Concept of manufactured sand:
According to industry reports there is a major shift in the mindset of the Construction Industry
towards exploring substitutes for river sand. Across the World there is growing support for the
increased use of manufactured sand used in the production of concrete. The properties of particle
shape, consistent gradation and zero impurities are the reason for the preference by structural
consultants and concrete technologists. The imperative need for clean sand, eliminating the
constraints of river sand like availability, price fluctuation etc, have made manufactured sand the
perfect substitute for river sand.
Manufacturing process and its standards:
The sand is manufactured in a three stage crushing process. The raw material is either granite or
basalt rock. The VSI which is also referred as sand making machine is in the Tertiary Stage. The
process adopted is similar to the river sand generation by nature. The VSI applies the principle of
rock on rock collision at a high velocity shaping the sand particles.
The plant works on the principle of continuous feed in closed circuit and adopts the technique
synonymous and comparable to nature's production of river sand. The complete manufacturing
process takes minutes when compared to the nature which happens over millions of years.
The product is produced to IS 383 standards.
Process
Our quarrying process typically begins with drilling and blasting the rock into smaller pieces.
Bore holes are drilled in the blast site and filled with explosives. The blast breaks up the rock
into smaller pieces that are loaded and hauled to the plant.
Process
The plant consists of three circuits namely Primary circuit, Secondary circuit and Tertiary circuit
wherein a three-stage crushing takes place. A 500 mm down size granite rock that is brought
from the quarry via operations which involve (deleted involves) drilling, blasting, segregation,
secondary breaking and transportation to the plant, is fed into to the Primary Circuit consisting of
one Jaw Crusher that sizes down this granite rock to produce 150mm down size aggregate. This
150 mm down size rock is fed into the Secondary Circuit consisting of one Cone Crusher to
produce a 40 mm down size aggregate which in turn is fed into the Tertiary Circuit consisting
one Vertical Shaft Impactor that produces Sand and Aggregate of the required Gradation &
Shape.
The installed capacity of the plant is 200 TPH (Tons/Hr.) of RoboSand and Robo shaped
Aggregate of 20 mm & 10 mm size

PLANT & MACHINERY:

Quality Testing
The Sieve Analysis tests are conducted on RoboSand 20mm and 10mm everyday on samples
collected from conveyor belts, stock piles and loaded trucks.
The following equipment is required and is available at all our plants.

Sieves of different sizes

Sieve Shaker

Oven

Sampling Cones

All our sales officers are also trained to carry out these tests at customer locations.
The Vertical Shaft Impactor applies a similar principle of rock-on-rock collusion for crushing.
The sand is classified into four zones as per IS 383 norms.
Zone I is coarser and becomes finer towards Zone IV.
The properties of Manufactured sand used for construction are:

Higher Strength of concrete:

The manufactured sand has required gradation of fines, physical properties such as shape,
smooth surface textures and consistency which makes it the best sand suitable for construction.
These physical properties of sand provides greater strength to the concrete by reducing
segregation, bleeding, honeycombing, voids and capillary.

Thus required grade of sand for the given purpose helps the concrete fill voids between coarse
aggregates and makes concrete more compact and dense, thus increasing the strength of
concrete.
Durability of concrete:
Since manufactured sand (M-Sand) is processed from selected quality of granite, it has the
balanced physical and chemical properties for construction of concrete structures.

This property of M-Sand helps the concrete structures withstand extreme environmental
conditions and prevents the corrosion of reinforcement steel by reducing permeability, moisture
ingress, freeze-thaw effect increasing the durability of concrete structures.

Workability of concrete:
Size, shape, texture play an important role in workability of concrete. With more surface area of
sand, the demand for cement and water increases to bond the sand with coarse aggregates.

The control over these physical properties of manufacturing sand make the concrete require less
amount of water and provide higher workable concrete. The less use of water also helps in
increasing the strength of concrete, less effort for mixing and placement of concrete, and thus
increases productivity of construction activities at site.

Less Construction Defects:

Construction defects during placement and post-concreting such as segregation, bleeding,
honeycombing, voids and capillarity in concrete gets reduced by the use of M-Sand as it has
optimum initial and final setting time as well as excellent fineness.

Economy:
As discussed above, since usage of M-Sand has increased durability, higher strength, reduction in
segregation, permeability, increased workability, decreased post-concrete defects, it proves to be
economical as a construction material replacing river sand.

It can also save transportation cost of river sand in many cases.

Eco-Friendly:
Usage of manufactured sand prevents dredging of river beds to get river sand which may lead to
environmental disaster like ground water depletion, water scarcity, threat to the safety of bridges,
dams etc. to make M-Sands more eco-friendly than river sand.
Advantages of robo Sand (M-Sand) are:

It is well graded in the required proportion.

It does not contain organic and soluble compound that affects the setting time and
properties of cement, thus the required strength of concrete can be maintained.

It does not have the presence of impurities such as clay, dust and silt coatings, increase
water requirement as in the case of river sand which impair bond between cement paste
and aggregate. Thus, increased quality and durability of concrete.

M-Sand is obtained from specific hard rock (granite) using the state-of-the-art
International technology, thus the required property of sand is obtained.

M-Sand is cubical in shape and is manufactured using technology like High Carbon steel
hit rock and then ROCK ON ROCK process which is synonymous to that of natural
process undergoing in river sand information.

Modern and imported machines are used to produce M-Sand to ensure required grading
zone for the sand.