Measurement of thermal conductivities of soils

Energy conservation in buildings, in particular in underground constructions, is strongly affected by the thermal properties of the soil surrounding such buildings. Experimental results of thermal conductivity studies of different soils are reported based on a quasisteady method [1]. The soil sample is placed in the annular space between two concentric tubes and is heated uniformly on the inside wall keeping the outside wall insulated. Four different types of soils (Moon Valley, River Sand, In-situ, and Ridgedale), are studied over a temperature range from ?5°C to 30°C for three different densities and moisture contents ranging from 0.5 to approximately 12% (by weight). The results indicate that the moisture content is by far the most important parameter. The thermal conductivity may increase by almost an order of magnitude as the moisture content increases. In addition, there may be a strong variation of the thermal conductivity in the phase transition region from unfrozen to frozen soils.     

Quantifying vegetation biomass impacts on vehicle mobility

Soil impacts on vehicle mobility are well known; however, most data are for bare soil or the type and amount of vegetation is not documented. This study summarizes results from experiments to quantify the effect of above ground and below ground vegetation biomass on vehicle performance. Soil–vegetation combinations of three soils and three grasses were used. The vegetation was tested at various growth stages and was also subjected to stressors such as trafficking, burning, and cutting. Vegetation measurements included above ground (leaves and shoots) and below ground (root) biomass weights, lengths, diameters and surface area parameters. The soils were characterized for size distribution, moisture, density and terrain strength for each test condition. Vehicle traction and motion resistance were measured for each soil–grass combination using the CRREL Instrumented Vehicle. Results showed an increase in net traction biomass in sandy soils. For clay soils above ground biomass generally increased resistance while increased root diameter clearly decreased resistance. This study represents the first measurements quantifying the impacts of specific biomass parameters on vehicle mobility. The results will serve to guide new experimental methods, improve datasets, and develop physics-based models for years to come.     

非饱和黏性土抗剪强度的温度效应试验研究

为了系统地了解温度对黏性土工程性质的影响,本文采用南京地区三种不同矿物成分的黏性土,制成不同含水量和干密度的试样,在5~45℃条件下,开展了抗剪强度试验,获得了三种土的非饱和重塑试样的抗剪强度与温度的关系。试验结果表明:黏性土的黏聚力随温度升高呈线性变化; 亲水矿物含量较高的黏性土抗剪强度对温度变化较敏感,黏聚力随着温度的升高而降低,表现为强度的热软化现象; 亲水矿物含量较低的黏性土,当含水量较低(w≤17%)时,表现为强度的热硬化现象,当含水量较高(w≥22%)时,表现为强度的热软化现象,且干密度越高的试样,强度的温度效应越明显。论文还分析了非饱和黏性土抗剪强度的热硬化和热软化的内在机理。     

Performance of coated floats in different soils

Experiments were conducted in a laboratory soil bin to evaluate the performance of coated floats in different soils. Two coating materials were studied, namely enamel and Teflon, and three soil types, namely clay, loam and sandy soil were used for testing. The forces required to overcome the drag of the floats and pull them over the soil surface were measured. The normal loads were varied to 25, 44 and 64 N. The effect of moisture content (db) was evaluated by varying the soil moisture from 21.2 to 62.4% for clay soil, 16.6 to 36.1% for loam soil and 0.7 to 13.8% for sandy soil. All tests were conducted at a constant speed of 0.20 m/s. The performance of the enamel coated float was superior to Teflon and uncoated floats in all soil conditions. In clay and loam soils, the drag force increased initially until the soil moisture content reached the plastic limit. The drag forces showed a decreasing trend once soil moisture exceeded the plastic limit. In sandy soil, the drag force increased with increase in moisture content. The overall reductions for the enamel coated float compared to uncoated float were from 4 to 64% in clay soil, 16 to 46% in loam soil and 26 to 45% in sandy soil. Besides this superior performance, the enamel coated float compared to the other floats showed excellent resistance to wear due to abrasion and superior scouring.     

Evaluation of an empirical traction equation for forestry tires

Variable load test data were used to evaluate the applicability of an existing forestry tire traction model for a new forestry tire and a worn tire of the same size with and without tire chains in a range of soil conditions. The clay and sandy soils ranged in moisture content from 17 to 28%. Soil bulk density varied between 1.1 and 1.4g cm⁻³ with cone index values between 297 and 1418 kPa for a depth of 140 mm. Two of the clay soils had surface cover or vegetation, the other clay soil and the sandy soil had no surface cover. Tractive performance data were collected in soil bins using a single tire test vehicle with the tire running at 20% slip. A non-linear curve fitting technique was used to optimize the model by fitting it to collected input torque data by modifying the coefficients of the traction model equations. Generally, this procedure resulted in improved prediction of input torque, gross traction ratio and net traction ratio. The predicted tractive performance using the optimized coefficients showed that the model worked reasonably well on bare, uniform soils with the new tire. The model was flexible and could be modified to predict tractive performance of the worn tire with and without chains on the bare homogeneous soils. The model was not adequate for predicting tractive performance on less uniform soils with a surface cover for any of the tire treatments.     

Visualization and analysis of wheel camber angle effect for slope traversability using an in-wheel camera

This paper visualizes and analyzes an effect of a wheel camber angle for the slope traversability in sandy terrain. An in-wheel camera developed in this work captures the wheel-soil contact phenomenon generated beneath the wheel through a transparent section of the wheel surface. The images taken by the camera are then analyzed using the particle image velocimetry. The soil flows with various wheel camber angles are analyzed with regard to the soil failure observed on the slope surface. The analysis reveals that the slope failure and soil accumulation in front of the wheel significantly affect the wheel forces and distributions of the wheel sinkage in the wheel width direction. Further, the side force of the wheel in traversing a slope decreases as the slip ratio increases because the shear stress in the slope downward direction decreases owing to the slope failure.     

Validation of the GeoWATCH soil moisture model and proposed bias correction method

The US Army is required to be a good steward of the land per US Army regulation AR 200-1. Based on this regulation, Army installations need to manage lands, to reduce potential damage and impacts to water quality and habitat that may occur from training. Maneuver training does impact the vegetation and soil and this damage is directly related to soil moisture. Soil moisture is an important factor for understanding the potential for soil surface disturbance due to vehicle impacts and predicting soil resilience to vehicle traffic, however, producing accurate estimates of the spatial and temporal variation of soil moisture has historically been elusive. GeoWATCH, which stands for Geospatial Weather-Affected Terrain Conditions and Hazards (formerly DASSP), simulates soil moisture world-wide, at relatively small spatial and temporal scales. GeoWATCH uses a physics-based downscaling approach that uses weather-scale land surface model estimates of soil moisture and land surface water and energy fluxes, with high resolution geospatial data. GeoWATCH soil moisture outputs coupled with vehicle impact models, are anticipated to be useful for near-real-time estimation of ground disturbance, but will require ground validation. To validate GeoWATCH soil moisture estimates, we utilized Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN) gauge network soil moisture data from 127 sites across 34 states. Statistical analysis of the raw GeoWATCH output indicated the model performs statistically better in certain soil textures. Model bias is largest for sandy soils, whereas clayey soils were least biased. As a result, bias correction models were applied to the raw GeoWATCH simulated values using linear regression to predict correction factor (CF) values based on physical site characteristics. The bias correction models significantly improved the performance of the GeoWATCH soil moisture model in terms of average performance statistics and number of statistically cally unbiased sites. This process could easily be incorporated into GeoWATCH, allowing for a capability to rapidly estimate vehicle impacts and determine rehabilitation requirements by installation land managers.     

粉土热导率与含水量关系的实验研究

目前报道的不少实验成果,在得出粉土热物性指标和某一因素的关系时,并未保持其他影响因素固定不变,因而只能说明粉土热物性指标随影响因素的定性变化趋势。要建立热物性指标与影响因素间的确定性关系和推算公式,需要更为严格的实验,即研究某一影响因素时保持其他因素不变。通过一系列实验,对粉土试样的热导率进行研究,在排除孔隙比、干密度、土样成分等影响因素的情况下,独立分析了粉土的热导率与含水量间的关系。实验结果表明粉土的热导率随含水量的增大而增大,其变化规律与砂土一致,都符合对数变化规律,且整个变化过程可分为两个阶段。同时还分析了粉土的内在传热机制,有效描述和解释粉土热导率随含水量的变化规律。分析结果表明用对数形式来描述粉土热导率与含水量之间的关系是正确的。       

Heat and mass transfer in unsaturated porous media at a hot boundary: I. One-dimensional analytical model

We present a model of heat and mass transfer in an unsaturated zone of sand and silty clay soils, taking into account the effects of temperature gradients on the advective flux, and of the enhancement of thermal conduction by the process of latent heat transfer through vapor flow. The motivation for this study is to supply information for the planned storage of thermal energy in unsaturated soils and for hot waste storage. Information is required on the possibility of significant drying at a hot boundary, as this would reduce the thermal conductivity of a layer adjacent to the boundary and, thus, prevent effective heat transfer to the soil. This study indicates the possibility that the considered system may be unstable, with respect to the drying conditions, with the occurrence of drying depending on the initial and the boundary conditions. An analysis performed for certain boundary conditions of heat transfer and for given soil properties, disregarding the advective flux of energy, indicated that there are initial conditions of water content for which heating will not cause significant drying. Under these conditions, fine soils may be better suited for heat transfer at the hot boundary, due to their higher field capacity, although their heat conduction coefficients at saturation are lower than those of sandy soils. At present, these conclusions are limited to the range of 50–80°C. Potential effects of solute concentration at the hot boundary are indicated.     

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.     

Analysis of soil flow and traction mechanics for lunar rovers over different types of soils using particle image velocimetry

Grouser wheels have been used in planetary rovers to improve mobility performance on sandy terrains. The biggest difference between a wheel with and without grousers is the soil behavior beneath the wheel as the grousers shovel the soil. By analyzing the soil flow, we gain insight into the mechanics dominating the interaction between the wheel and the soil, directly impacting performance. As the soil flow varies depending on the soil properties, the effects of soil type on soil behavior and wheel-traveling performance should be studied. This paper reveals the difference in soil flow and wheel performance on cohesive and non-cohesive soils. We conducted a series of single wheel tests over different types of soils under several wheel-traveling conditions. Soil flow was visualized by using particle image velocimetry (PIV). The experimental results indicate that soil flow characteristics highly depend on the shear strength of the soil. The cohesive soil exhibited lower fluidity due to its higher shear strength. At the same time, the wheel displayed a higher traveling performance over the cohesive soil, that is, a lower slip ratio.     

攀枝花地区冰期膨胀土的工程特性研究

攀枝花地区冰期膨胀土生成于二冰期晚期中更新统冰期,通过室内和现场物理力学试验和分析,揭示攀枝花地区冰期膨胀土的物理力学性质具有很大的离散性,其性质受土体的矿物成分、含水率、裂隙面、埋藏深度、级配、试验条件等因素、条件的影响。试验研究表明:膨胀土中的裂隙面按光滑程度不相同,可分为两种类型,即光滑裂隙面和光滑擦痕裂隙面; 粗粒矿物对胀缩性影响不大,而细粒矿物对胀缩性影响较大; 裸露或近地表,土层风化剧烈,裂隙较发育,膨胀力度就稍大; 同一地区的膨胀土,蒙脱石含量愈高,自由膨胀率愈大,其膨胀等级就愈高; 不同场地内的膨胀土其物理力学性质指标存在一些差异,但差异性较小; 攀枝花冰期膨胀土层的黏粒含量并不大; 不同场地内的膨胀土抗剪强度值变化较大,同一场地内的膨胀土抗剪强度值有起伏; 攀枝花冰期膨胀土多数呈硬塑-坚硬状,自然状态下其抗压变形能力较好,在浸水饱和状态下,膨胀土的承载力几乎成倍数下降。     

Statistical models for predicting compaction generated by off-road vehicular traffic in different soil types

The behaviour of soils under a vehicle wheel was determined by measuring the density, moisture content, and the position of the data point. From the several thousands of data points, statistical models were established for dry density in terms of external pressure, moisture content, and position. The effect of slip was also obtained at the required situations. Separate models were determined for sand, sandy loam, loamy sand, and clay. For every soil type, there exists an optimum moisture content for worst compaction. Considering this, models were obtained for various categories.     

Prediction of clay soil compaction

Field measurements were made of soil density and moisture patterns under different vehicle tire paths with varying external pressures and number of passes. In addition, laboratory index tests were performed to determine the compaction behaviour of the same soil. Using these results, a prediction equation of dry density in terms of applied pressure and moisture content was obtained for the clay soil. A previously developed equation for sandy soil was modified for the complete range of moisture contents encountered. Estimation of shear strength for the clay soil was made using plastic and liquid limits.     

A transient method for measuring thermal properties of soils

In connection with energy conservation studies by subsurface construction, thermal properties of soils are needed for a wide range of temperature and moisture levels. Because of several disadvantages of steady state methods, including the problem of moisture migration, a transient method has been developed which requires substantially less time than steady state tests, reduces the problem of moisture migration, and provides simultaneously thermal conductivities and thermal diffusivities. The design of the apparatus and the test procedure are discussed. The agreement of sample results with steady state measurements assures reliability of the equipment which will be used for generating a wide spectrum of thermal soil data.     

考虑非饱和粘性土含水量变化的地铁隧道围岩土体稳定性分析

含水量是非饱和土力学性质的重要控制因素,非饱和粘性土是北京地铁苏州街车站隧道的主要围岩土体类型,应用钻孔取样的方法取得隧道周边区域内的土体系统样本,通过三轴试验和含水量测试建立了非饱和粘性土围岩的变形和强度参数与含水量的相关性,进而明确了该工程场地非饱和粘性土的主要参数与含水量的关系,以此为基础确定了工程场地不同区域的土体力学参数,通过有限元数值分析方法研究了施工过程中的围岩土体稳定性与地表沉降量,明确了考虑土体含水量变化条件下的隧道开挖施工过程中的围岩土体稳定性状况。     

南京地区土体热导率性质测试与分析

通过对南京地区大量粘土和粉质粘土样品热导率值的测试,分析了土体热导率与其含水量、孔隙比的相关关系。对影响土体导热值的因素作了详细分析,提出了根据土体含水量、孔隙比值计算土体热导率的经验计算公式。     

Shape effects of wheel grousers on traction performance on sandy terrain

This paper presents the effects of different wheel grouser shapes on the traction performance of a grouser wheel traveling on sandy terrain. Grouser wheels are locomotion gears that allow small and lightweight exploration rovers to traverse on the loose sand on extraterrestrial surfaces. Although various grouser shapes have been analyzed by some research groups, a more synthetic and direct comparison of possible grousers is required for practical applications. In this study, we developed a single wheel testbed and experimentally investigated the effects of four grouser shapes (parallel, slanted, V-shaped, and offset V-shaped) on the traction performance of linear movement on flat sand. The wheel slip, sinkage, traction and side force acting on the wheel axle, the wheel driving torque, and the efficiency of each wheel were examined. Thereafter, the effects on the lateral slope traversability of a small and lightweight four-wheeled rover with different grouser shapes were also examined. The traversability experiment demonstrated the vehicle mobility performance in order to contribute to the design optimization of rover systems. These experimental results and their comparisons suggested that, of the shapes studies herein, the slanted shape was the optimal grouser design for use in wheeled rovers on lunar and planetary soil.     

Evaluation of penetrometers for measuring soil strength

Cone index, as determined by a cone penetrometer, is frequently used as a measure of soil strength. The index is a compound parameter involving components of shear, compressive and tensile strength and soil metal friction. In order to assess the effect of soil type and condition on the relative contributions of these components to penetration resistance, the forces required to push blunt and sharp probes into two soils under a range of moisture contents and bulk densities were investigated. The maximum penetration force in homogeneous soil was not uniquely related to dry bulk density or cohesion, but varied with soil moisture content.At high and low moisture contents, the soil tended to interact with the shaft of the penetrometer thus increasing the resistance to penetration. At low moisture content, bodies of compressed soil formed in front of the probe, effectively changing the probe geometry.It was concluded that interpretation of cone index in typical layered field soils is difficult. Even in homogeneous soils, the proportion of shear, compressive and tensile components that the cone index reflects varies with soil condition.