Performance comparison of manufactured sand and natural sand

January.25,2021

Machine-made sand is a kind of artificial sand obtained by processing granite, pebbles, limestone, etc. through crushers, sand making machines, and sand washing machines. This article is about feature of manufactured sand, M sand process, equipment.  The compare of m sand and river sand.

Why use manufactured sand

1. Factory production, quality can be guaranteed.

Factory production can establish a quality monitoring system from a series of technological processes such as material selection and crushing. The production conditions are good and the quality of sand is guaranteed.

2.Good physical and mechanical properties of sand

It is possible to consciously select hard rock to produce machine-made sand, avoid soft and weathered rocks, and at the same time, the amount of mud (lumps) can be manually screened and controlled. The chemical composition is the same as the base material and crushed stone, and has no negative effect on the concrete. It is suitable for high-strength concrete.

3.The particle gradation and fineness modulus of manufactured sand can be adjusted.

According to the needs of the project, the fineness modulus and particle gradation of manufactured sand can be adjusted in combination with the characteristics of the base material and the requirements of concrete. The adjustment measures are mainly completed through the selection of crushing equipment and technological processes.

The advantages of nature sand

1. Nature sand (river sand) particles are round and smooth. The fineness modulus of natural medium sand is mostly 2. 6 3.0, with better gradation, which is very beneficial to the workability of concrete. The sand has sharp grains, multiple edges and corners, rough surface, and the fineness modulus is more than 3.0. Compared with natural sand, the grain gradation of machine-made sand is slightly worse, larger than 2.5 mm and smaller than 0.08 mm. Too many particles result in poor workability of the concrete and easily cause defects in the appearance of concrete. Changes in the base material of machine-made sand will cause fluctuations in the quality of machine-made sand, which brings certain difficulties to the control of construction quality. However, the shortcomings of machine-made sand can be overcome by selecting appropriate crushing equipment, rationally using the amount of stone powder in the sand, adjusting the sand rate, and selecting appropriate additives.

2. Manufactured sand contains a certain amount of stone powder. Although the particle size of stone powder and mud are both less than 0.075 mm, their composition is different, and the difference in fineness is also large. Most of the mud particles are smaller than 0.016 mm, while most of the stone powder particles are between 0.0116 and 0.075 mm. Mud is adsorbed on the surface of sand and hinders the bonding between sand and cement; and a proper amount of stone powder can be filled in the gaps between cement and fine sand to enhance the workability of machine-made sand concrete.

Granite sand washing production line configuration plan (customizable)

Each user’s needs and site conditions are different, and the required granite sand washing production line configuration plan also has some differences.
Common granite sand washing production line configuration scheme:

Granite contains a large amount of mud
Feeder + spiral sand washing machine + wheel sand washer + vibrating screen + fine sand recovery machine + conveyor.

Granite has low mud content
Feeder + sand washing machine + vibrating screen + fine sand recovery machine + conveyor.