Fuzzy clustering of paddy field soils in South China

Various paddy field soils in South China were measured during the rice-growing season and numerous data were collected concerning soil composition, water content and soil strength. A similarity matrix of 16 samples was constructed, by means of which the soils were clustered at λ = 0.75 into four groups.     

Fuzzy prediction of soil strength based on water content and composition

Sixteen samples representing various paddy field soils of the main rice-planting regions in South China, with their characteristic values, are listed, by which means the soil strength of any other paddy field soil can be fuzzily predicted when its water content, sand content and clay content are given. Illustrative examples show that the result of prediction seems to be acceptable in engineering practice.     

The general rheological model of paddy soils in south China

Analyses and experiments show that the Burgers model can be accepted as a general rheological model of paddy soils in South China, among which most are clays. Orthogonal tests and variance analyses show that the effect of soil conditions (mechanical composition, water content, bulk density) on rheological parameters is particularly significant, while that of loading conditions (shape and size of bearing surface, load) is practically not significant.     

Several contributions to soil compactibility induced by cyclic loading test

To investigate the soil compactibility during the cyclic loading, three different kinds of paddy field soils were prepared so as to clarify interrelationships among stress amplitude ratio, bulk density, soil water content and pore water pressure. The presetting values of specimen include the soil water content(percent dry basis) and bulk density of 25% d.b. and 1.1 Mg/m³ respectively. The relation between the number of cyclic loading and axial strain exhibited an asymptotically increasing trend, converging toward a specific value for each experimental condition. Possible effect caused by elastic–plastic characteristics could be recognized, when axial strain for 0.5 Hz excitation becomes greater than the one of 1.0 Hz under same stress amplitude ratio. When the stress amplitude ratio took 0.1, the absolute value of axial strain of 0.5 Hz was greater than the one of 1.0 Hz, whereas its decreasing trend was recognized in the sequence of silt, clay and silty sand. The qualitative relations between pore water pressure and number of cyclic loading were also examined to scrutinize the effect of effective water pressure to the soil compactibility.     

Relationship between paddy soil adhesion to steel and to rubber

Forty-three pairs of samples concerning adhesion of paddy soil to steel and to rubber are used to identify the relationship between these two groups of variables. Results show that there is no significant difference between them, implying that they are roughly equal to each other in engineering practice.     

Characteristics of adhesion between soil and solid surfaces

The capillary attraction and viscous resistance caused by a water film between two solid surfaces were evaluated theoretically. The surface morphology of soil at the soil-solid adhesion interface was examined by scanning electron microscopy. The contact models of the soil adhesion interface are given and mechanism of the normal adhesion is discussed. The wettability and normal soil adhesion of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) sheet, polyethersulforne (PES)-PTFE coating, enamel coating, iron base alloy-epoxy composite coating and the conventional material were determined. The draft force of ploughs with mouldboards coated with PES-PTFE, enamel and iron base alloy-epoxy and the conventional mouldboard plough were measured. The soil surface at the soil-solid interface displays rough structure at various sizes. The adhesion force between soil and solid is mainly composed of Laplace pressure, meniscus tension and viscous resistance caused by water film and loops. Polymers can reduce both normal adhesion and sliding resistance, whereas, enamel coating or iron base alloy-epoxy composite coating can reduce the sliding resistance to some extent.     

Study on use of vibration to reduce soil adhesion

The purpose of this study was to explore a mechanism to prevent soil adhesion to machines using sine wave vibration applied to a test material. An experimental apparatus was constructed using mild steel plate as a model simulating a soil interacting tool. Silt loam soil with six levels of moisture content was used in the experiment. It was sprayed on the plate at several spraying angles, with and without plate vibration. The plate’s center, vibrated at a right angle at frequencies between 60 and 100 Hz, showed greater acceleration and a significant effect on preventing soil adhesion when test soil with 38.7% moisture content was sprayed on it. On the other hand, even without plate vibration, the soil sprayed at smaller spraying angles did not stick to the plate. From this study, it can be concluded that soil adhesion to the plate was closely related to vibration acceleration and spraying angle. Therefore, the effective way to prevent soil adhesion to machines is to vibrate the parts of the machine that come in contact with soil.     

非饱和膨胀土的土-水特征曲线研究

在干旱和半干旱地区 ,土体中含水量的变化常会引发各种工程问题。研究表明 ,非饱和土的工程性质不仅取决于土的组成、结构和应力状态 ,还与土中的吸力密切相关。非饱和土的土 -水特征曲线表达了土体中含水量与吸力的关系 ,是非饱和土研究的重要内容之一。     

Effects of tyre inflation pressure and forward speed on vibration of an unsuspended tractor

Relationships among intensity of vibrations, tractor speed, soil moisture content and tyre inflation pressure are important for the design of tractor suspension systems. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of tyre inflation pressure and forward speed on tractor vibration in the paddy fields of Southern China by using a two-wheel-drive unsuspended tractor with different combinations of forward speed, tyre inflation pressure and soil moisture content. During experiments, the vertical vibration accelerations in front and rear axles and triaxial vibration accelerations of the tractor body were measured using three accelerometers. Fourier analysis was applied to determine root mean square acceleration values in the low frequency range from 0.1 to 10 Hz. The results of the study indicate that tractor vibration is strongly affected by changing forward speed and tyre inflation pressure, and especially by changing forward speed and rear tyre inflation pressure. The research also shows the variation in the pattern of vibration intensity especially at the tractor’s front axle when field soil moisture content is changed.     

A novel rigid wheel for agricultural machinery applicable to paddy field with muddy soil

The working performance of agricultural machinery is largely determined by the walking performance of the wheel when driving in complex unstructured soil. However, the driving performance of existing wheels is not satisfactory for paddy field with muddy soil. The purpose of the current study is therefore to propose a novel rigid wheel for agricultural machinery which is applicable to paddy field with muddy soil. Firstly, a novel arc edge shaped wheel was designed based on the principles of mechanics on the ground. Then the driving performance of this arc edge shaped wheel was evaluated using FE modeling of interaction between rigid wheel and soil. Finally, the structure originally designed arc edge shaped wheel was improved according to FE modeling results, and this improved design was further evaluated by both FE simulation and prototype experiments. Both FE modeling and experimental results indicate that the improved arc edge shaped wheel proposed in this study has a good driving performance with regarding to wheel sinkage and soil reaction force. The proposed arc edge shaped wheel could be used as an effective component of rice harvester for paddy field with muddy soil.     

Effect of wetting and drying on soil physical properties

Agricultural soils are subject to seasonal wetting and drying cycles. Effect of drying stress, as influenced by one cycle of wetting and drying, on physical properties of a clay–loam soil was investigated in the laboratory. The physical properties studied were soil bulk density, cone penetration resistance, shear strength, adhesion and aggregate size and stability. Three drying stress treatments were made by wetting air-dried soil of initial moisture content of 12% (on dry weight basis) to three different higher moisture contents, namely 27, 33 and 40%, and then drying each of them back to their original moisture content of 12%. Thus, the soil was subjected to three different degrees of drying stress. The results showed that the soil strength indicated by cone penetration resistance and cohesion, and soil aggregate size, increased with the degree of drying stress. However, the soil bulk density did not change significantly with the drying stress.     

Hysteresis in soil mechanical behavior

The performance of a vertical tine was investigated at various water contents during wetting and drying cycles in a clay-loam soil. Results showed that at a given water content the soil during the wetting cycle failed by fracture mode and offered relatively more draft. Soil during the drying cycle cracked, and when a tine was pushed through the soil, it failed along the cracks. This failure mode was referred to as preferential fracture. For a given water content, tine forces and soil shear strength properties were found to be greater during the wetting cycle than the drying cycle, which leads to the conclusion that there is a hysteresis effect in soil caused by drying stress induced by seasonal wetting and drying.     

Effects of non-smooth characteristics on bionic bulldozer blades in resistance reduction against soil

The phenomenon of soil adhesion occurs widely when terrain machines and construction machines work; this adhesion increases their working resistance. Bionics is one of the most effective methods to reduce resistance against soil. Several non-smooth convex form bulldozer blades were tested to study the effects of non-smooth characteristics on resistance reduction against soil. Under the same soil and test conditions, the draft forces of different non-smooth samples were obtained, and were lower than those of smooth samples. The sample with largest convex base diameter had the lowest draft force. The experiments with smooth and non-smooth samples were repeated to observe soil adhesion and test resistance. A minimum amount of soil adhered to the surface of the non-smooth sample, and the draft force varied smoothly. The smooth sample was different in soil adhesion and draft force.     

Technology showcase applications of enamel coating in agriculture

Recently various experiments were conducted at the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, to study the effect of enamel coating on the performance of some agricultural equipment. In order to reduce soil adhesion on cage wheel lugs, nine different coating materials were tried and enamel coating was found to be the best among these materials. It reduced soil adhesion on cage wheel lugs considerably to avoid cage wheel blocking. To investigate effect of coating on lug forces detailed lab studies were undertaken to measure the lug forces. The effects of lug slip, soil moisture content and sinkage were investigated. It was observed that enamel coating did not affect the lug forces. The pull and lift forces generated by the enamel coated and uncoated lugs were almost the same. When enamel coated bolt-on plates were mounted on the power tiller cage wheel lugs and trials were conducted in actual field conditions, it was observed that in actual field conditions enamel coated bolt-on plates on cage wheel lugs improved the performance of a power tiller. Studies about coating effects on the drag force required to pull floats on soil surface were also conducted. It was observed that enamel coating on floats reduced the drag force significantly. It also greatly improved the scouring of a mouldboard plough used in a wet, sticky clay soil.     

Dependency of observation parameters on soil dynamic parameters in unconfined impact compression tests

Unconfined impact compression tests were used to measure dynamic parameters of soil samples in the domains of stress wave propagation and dynamic deformation. The high-frequency equivalent Young's modulus, which was determined by the reflection theory of one-dimensional elastic stress waves, increased exponentially with water content. The low-frequency equivalent Young's modulus, which was defined as the initial gradient of a stress-strain curve, decreased exponentially with increasing water content. The high-frequency equivalent Young's modulus was one to two orders of magnitude larger than the low-frequency one. Water content, height of soil samples and drop height affected the dynamic stress-strain relationships of the soil samples. The Maxwell's viscoelastic fluid model described the stress-strain relationships well, and the values of the model parameters varied with water content and frequency.     

Physical and hydraulic characteristics in compacted clay soils

To determine and compare the differences in soil water suction between uncropped and cropped plots, a 52-plot experiment was used. Three average tyre to soil contact pressures of 31, 41 and 62 kPa as well as four numbers of machines passes (1, 5, 10 and 15) and control plots of zero traffic were used as pre-seeding machinery compaction treatments for the investigation. Soil dry bulk density, soil moisture content, soil suction, rainfall, water table depth and corn yield were all measured. The results showed that, with increasing tyre contact pressure, there was a corresponding increase in soil suction during the growing season in both uncropped and cropped plots. A family of curves was drawn for soil suction versus tyre contact pressure for different numbers of days and also for soil suction versus volumetric water content at varying contact pressures and times of the season. Growth performance of corn plants was best in moderately compacted plots. Dry bulk density and penetrometer resistance were related to traffic treatments.     

隧道施工中环境土层工程性质研究

利用非饱和土的三轴仪 ,测定不同吸力状态下的土的强度特性 ,并确立了两者之间的定量关系 ,同时进行了含水量对非饱和土的强度影响试验 ,研究了北京地区的非饱和土的强度特性。试验结果表明 :不同的吸力状态下 ,土的强度明显提高 ;含水量的改变对内聚力有明显影响 ,而对内摩擦角无明显影响 ,并测定本土样对强度改变的含水量拐点值.     

The effect of initial soil water content and vegetative cover on surface soil disturbance by tracked vehicles

A field trial was conducted to examine the effect of initial soil water content and vegetative cover on soil disturbance caused by tracked military vehicles. Disturbance was measured as depth of rut produced. Soil disturbance increased as the number of passes and turns increased, but especially after turning manoeuvres. Greater disturbance occurred on reduced vegetation plots and with increasing initial soil water content. Simple regression analysis was undertaken to determine which factor had the greatest influence on disturbance.     

某尾矿坝暴雨蓄洪溃塌原因分析与综合治理措施

为分析某尾矿坝局部溃决机理和对其进行综合治理,从尾矿颗粒组成及 其物理力学指标、尾矿砂沉积分布特征、调洪引起的坝体渗流条件与浸润线变化以及排水设 施等方面进行了分析,同时进行了相应的滑动稳定性计算. 根据非饱和土理论,认为降雨使 上部子坝非饱和尾亚砂土含水量增加,基质吸力降低导致其抗剪强度下降,水位、浸润线位 置上升、排水措施和加筋不足等是其局部失稳的原因,并对该尾矿坝局部溃决的综合治理措 施提出了若干建议.     

Measurement of soil parameters useful in predicting tractive ability of off-road vehicles using an instrumented portable device

An instrumented portable device that measures soil sinkage, shear, and frictional parameters in situ was developed to investigate the complexity of soil-traction device interaction process. The device was tested to determine its ability to measure soil frictional and shear characteristics. Extensive laboratory tests were conducted using dry and moist Capay clay and Yolo loam soils. In addition, field tests were also conducted in a Yolo loam field located at the UC Davis Agricultural Experiment Station. The Cohron sheargraph was also tested under the same laboratory experimental conditions to determine adhesion, soil-metal friction, cohesion, and angle of internal friction of soil. The analysis of experimental data indicated that soil adhesion and soil-metal friction were found to be functions of the intercept and slope values of cone torque versus cone index plot (r² = 0.94 and 0.95, respectively). Moreover, soil cohesion was found to be related to adhesion by the constrained adhesion relationship, and soil angle of internal friction was proportional to soil-metal friction as reported by Hettiaratchi [7] and [8]. These results imply that a simpler device consisting of a rotating cone can be developed to measure soil frictional and shear characteristics. Preliminary results showed that the soil parameters determined using this device predicted the maximum net traction developed by four different radial ply tires tested by Upadhyaya et al. [18] under similar soil conditions quite well. These results indicate that the parameters obtained from the device could be useful in obtaining traction related parameters of a soil-tractive device interaction process.