With the shortage of sand and gravel aggregates and the increase in demand for construction sand, various types of sand have poured into the market. There are three main sources of sand and gravel, natural sand, artificial sand and mixed sand. At present, due to the shortage of natural resources and increasingly strong environmental constraints, the mining of natural sand has been banned in many areas, and the source of sand used in most engineering projects is manufactured sand. So, what is the difference between natural sand and machine-made sand?
1. What is natural sand? What is machine-made sand? Let’s first briefly understand the common types of sand
Natural sand: refers to rock particles with a particle size of less than 5mm formed by natural conditions such as natural weathering, water flow handling, sorting, and accumulation. It is mainly divided into river sand, lake sand, sea sand and mountain sand.
Washed sand: refers to the sand in the river course or the sand on the old river bed is washed and classified to separate sand of various grades and specifications.
Manufactured sand: refers to rock particles with a particle size of less than 4.75mm after mechanical crushing. It is mainly divided into granite sand making, cobblestone sand making, limestone sand making, construction waste sand making and so on.
High-quality machine-made sand: it is made by crushing and screening by crushing and sand-making equipment. Rock particles with multiple technical indicators such as shape < 8%, water content 3% to 5%.
Mixed sand: refers to the sand material obtained by mixing natural sand and machine-made sand in a certain proportion.
Man-made sand: collectively referred to as machine-made sand and mixed sand.
2. The difference between natural sand and machine-made sand
1. Appearance: Manufactured sand is made by man-made machinery, and its grain shape has regular edges and corners, while natural sand is formed through long-term natural action and is relatively round.
2. Firmness and durability: The firmness and durability of machine-made sand are slightly inferior to those of artificial sand, but it can still reach the high-quality product index of GB/T141684293 standard, and there is no problem in using it in ordinary concrete. It’s just that when the concrete components with higher requirements are used, they need to be processed again.
3. Adhesion and compression resistance: Due to the regular edges and corners of the machine-made sand, when using cement and other structures for bonding, it often has better adhesion, more compression resistance, and a longer service life.
4. Fineness modulus: general natural sand can have various gradations, but only one fineness modulus; while the fineness modulus of machine-made sand can be manually controlled through the production process, and designed and produced according to user needs. This is what natural sand cannot do.
5. Amount of resources: Manufactured sand has a wide range of sources and stable materials. Different construction sands can be produced according to needs, and it is economically feasible. Man-made sand resources are in short supply and over-exploited. The proportion in the sand and gravel market will become smaller and smaller.
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