Characterization of manufactured sand: Particle shape, surface texture and behavior in concrete

• The MS particle shape is characterized with digital image analysis based on big sample space.
• At the micro scale the surface roughness of MS is lower than RS.
• The sand’s shape and roughness are no significant factors on its behavior in concrete.

Full understanding on the characteristic and behavior of manufactured sand (MS) is very crucial to its application. The particle shape, surface texture and behavior of MS are characterized in this paper. Results indicate that MS has higher roundness and Length-width ratio, and wider distribution ranges of those parameters compared with river sand (RS), in the micro scale, most MS has lower surface roughness than RS unexpectedly. To obtain the similar workability, most MS concretes require higher water reducer dosage than RS concrete, and MSs with less stone powder and clay lump content require even lower water reducer. Nearly all MS concrete has higher strength than RS concrete with same paste composition. The particle shape and surface texture of MS has less significant effect on its behavior in concrete than the stone powder, clay lump content and the gradation of MS, so MS with suitable production process may have better behavior in concrete than RS.