Measurements of the yield surfaces and critical state of some unsaturated agricultural soils

Yield surfaces and the critical-state condition have been measured on unsaturated agricultural soils using a standard uniaxial compression test and a constant-volume direct shear test. The yield surfaces and critical-state line are all readily described in terms of applied or total stresses, and such an approach offers practical advantages over approaches based on effective stresses. Four soils were tested, these being a silt, a tilth with aggregates mostly from 5-15 mm, a cracking clay and a red-brown earth.
Each soil was tested at a single constant moisture content in all tests, although the moisture content differed from soil to soil. The range of saturation covered by the four soils was approximately 20-98%. All the soils displayed yield and deformation behaviour qualitatively consistent with the critical-state concept. All approach a condition of shear with no volume change (the critical state) under continuing shear. All show collapse with shear in states looser than critical, and expansion with shear in states denser than critical. The silt, being a non-cohesive soil, cannot support shear stresses much above the critical-state line, whereas the other three soils can support much higher shear stresses in the overconsolidated condition. The yield surfaces of the silt and the tilth, which were tested at low saturation, are similar in shape with increasing stress level. However, the other two soils, tested when near saturation, display yield surfaces that are not constant in shape with increasing stress level. While the critical-state concept is applicable both qualitatively and quantitatively, unsaturated soils may be considered to have properties that differ in detail from those of saturated soils.     

Strength and deformation of agricultural soil: measurement and practical significance

Abstract. Soil has a finite strength to resist permanent volume change and permanent shear deformation. When the stresses imposed on the soil are of a sufficient magnitude to overcome the strength, then the deformation falls into one of two regimes. At low stress ratios (ratio of normal stress to maximum past stress) the soil expands when sheared and at high stress ratios it compresses. The maximum past stress in a field soil is the pre-consolidation stress. The pre-consolidation stress is the compressive stress greater than which compression is considerable and permanent.
These regimes of soil deformation behaviour are consistent and predictable under a wide range of conditions. They are described by the critical state concept, which can usefully be applied to soil management. Management decisions can be based on whether the stresses imposed by a particular operation result in high or low stress ratios. This governs whether the soil will deform permanently or not (for compaction damage), expand on shear (tillage) or compress on shear (preparation of rice paddy soils). The change in permeability and structure can also be predicted from the deformation regime.     

Räumliche Spannungsmessungen mit dem Stress State Transducer (SST) in ungesättigten aggregierten Böden - theoretische Betrachtungen und erste Ergebnisse

Stress measurements in undisturbed unsaturated soils with a Stress State Transducer (SST) - theory and first results A method to quantify the spatial stress distribution will be introduced and first results will be discussed. This method allows the detailed analysis of principal and shear stresses as well as the determination of the direction angle of principal stresses and the octahedral shear stress angle. The described Stress State Transducer (SST) is composed of six single strain gage sensors that enable the accurate and reproducable recording of stresses in six directions in a wide load range. Their data form the base for calculation of spatial stress distribution. Some first results show that in a luvisol derived from loess wheeling at a wheel load of 4.0 Mg induces high shear stresses in a depth of 30 cm. This probably causes plastic soil deformation.     

Measuring and predicting Stress Distribution under Tractive Devices in Undisturbed Soils

The objective of this study was to compare predicted stresses with measured stresses within the soil profile underneath a tractor rear tyre as affected by soil type, dynamic load, and contact pressure. The major principal stress, octahedral normal stress, and octahedral shearing stress were compared. A three-dimensional non-linear finite element model was used to predict soil profile stresses while stress state transducers were used to measure soil stresses beneath a moving tyre in the field. Principal stresses, octahedral normal stresses, and octahedral shearing stresses were calculated from the measured stresses. Predicted values of soil stress obtained from the finite element model were compared against measured values obtained from field experiments. Generally, the results from the finite element model were found to be compatible with the experimental results. The study of compaction on two soils indicated that, at the same dynamic load, compaction of clay soils was far more severe than that of coarsely textured soils.     

Mathematical simulation and calculation of the soil compaction under dynamic loads

The deformation and compaction of loamy sandy soddy-podzolic soils under linear dynamic changes in the compressive stresses and in the course of the soil creeping were studied in field experiments. The rheological properties of these soils occurring in the viscoelastic state were described by a first-order differential equation relating the compressive stresses, the rates of their changes, and the velocities of the relative vertical compressive deformation. Regression equations were derived for the viscoelastic properties of the studied soil as functions of its density, moisture, and linear compaction velocity. Methods were proposed for the calculation of indices of the stress-strain state and the compaction of soils under specified conditions of changes in their compressive stresses with time and in the course of the soil creeping after the initial linear increase in load. Corresponding computer programs were developed. The effect of the main factors due to the linear increase in the compressive loads and in the course of the soil creeping on the rheological properties, the stress-strain state, and the density of soils was quantitatively estimated. The calculation showed that the values of the soil deformation and the density under compressive stresses lower than the ultimate strength were stabilized with time, and the properties of the viscoelastic soil approached elastic ones.     

Zusammenhang zwischen hydraulischer und mechanischer Bodenstabilität in Abhängigkeit von der Belastungsdauer

Interaction between mechanically and hydraulically affected soil strength depending on time of loading Soil‐deformation analysis often only considers the direct effects of mechanical stress on changes in void ratio or pore functions while the interaction between hydraulic and mechanical processes is seldomly mentioned. Thus, we analyzed the effect of mechanical stress and time of soil settlement on changes in soil strength and the corresponding interactions between stress‐dependent changes in pore water pressure on precompression stress for a clayey silt. Disturbed samples with a bulk density of 1.4 g cm^–3 and a water content of 25 g (100 g)^–1 were compressed for four time steps (10–240 min) at eight stresses (20–400 kPa) with four replications. During the experiments, the changes of pore water pressure and void ratio were registered. With increasing time of stress application, we determined an increased soil strain. The higher the stress‐application time, the smaller gets the void ratio and the precompression stress value. Parallel to these variations in settlement, we also found changes in the pore‐water‐pressure values. This is a consequence of decreasing pore diameter while the water saturation increases. Thus, the proportion of neutral stresses on total stress increases which coincides with a change of water suction (= unsaturated) conditions up to even positive pore‐water‐pressure values (from less negative to positive pore water pressure values). From our experiments, we can conclude that the changes in pore‐water‐pressure values already occur at normal stress values smaller than the precompression stress. This underlines the increasing sensitivity of soil deformation processes close to the internal soil strength. The results support the idea, that in order to quantify the mechanical strength of structured unsaturated soils, we always have to determine the changes in pore‐water‐pressure values, too.     

斥水红黏土的增湿强度特性研究

在红黏土中加入十八胺使其由亲水变为斥水,分别对亲水和斥水土进行不同容重下增湿和不增湿直剪试验,通过试验对不增湿条件下红黏土由亲水变为斥水后的抗剪强度变化规律及增湿对亲水和斥水红黏土抗剪强度的影响展开研究.试验结果表明:不增湿条件下,亲水土壤变为斥水后其强度会降低,且随着正应力的增大斥水土壤抗剪强度降低越明显;增湿对亲水...     

A critical state soil mechanics model for agricultural soils

Abstract. The paper presents the experimentally derived state boundary surfaces of critical state theory for a sand, a loam and a clay soil. Orderly changes to these surfaces with moisture content and two soil micro-structural states have been identified. These findings are used as the basis for the formulation of a fairly simple universal model of the geometry of critical state space for unsaturated soils. Examples are given of how this model can be used to explain known soil behaviour in many practical situations. The indications are that this model can provide the theoretical framework for a fundamental comprehension of the many complex processes involved in soil loosening and compaction. There is, as yet, no simple experimental technique for measuring the critical state boundaries of field soils and this is a major impedement to the development of the model as a practical soil management tool.     

Determination of rill erodibility and critical shear stress of saturated purple soil slopes

The hydrological conditions near the soil surface influence the soil erosion process, as determined by the soil erodibility and critical shear stress. The soil erodibility and critical shear stress of saturated purple soil slopes were computed and compared with those of unsaturated purple soil slopes. The detachment capacities computed through the numerical method (NM), modified numerical method (MNM) and analytical method (AM), from rill erosion experiments on saturated purple soil slopes at different flow rates (2, 4, and 8 L min^?1) and slope gradients (5, 10, 15, and 20°), were used to comparatively compute the soil erodibility and critical shear stress. The computed soil erodibilities and critical shear stresses were also compared with those of unsaturated purple soil slopes. At the different slope gradients ranging from 5° to 20°, there were no significant differences in the soil erodibilities of the saturated purple soil and also in those of the unsaturated purple soil. The critical shear stresses slightly varied with the slope gradients. The saturated purple soil was relatively significantly more susceptible to erosion. The NM overestimated the soil erodibility of both saturated and unsaturated soils by 31% and underestimated the critical shear stress. The MNM yielded the same soil erodibility and critical shear stress values as the AM. The results of this study supply parameters for modeling rill erosion of saturated purple soil slope.     

The mechanical behavior of structured and homogenized soil under repeated loading

Soil deformation is increasingly important in crop production since nowadays weights of agricultural machines exceed the bearing capacity of most soils. Often this is counteracted by distributing the weight over more axles leading to an increase in wheeling frequency. Machine passages during one year can, depending on the crop and equipment used, range between two and five times for the majority of the field and up to twenty times and more for a wheeling track. These add up to hundreds of loading events for a crop‐rotation period. In this study, we investigated the effect of multiple loading with the same load in a cyclic‐compression test on soil‐pore‐volume change. The tests were conducted on homogenized soil samples with varying texture and undisturbed soil samples from a field experimental site comparing conventional and conservation‐tillage systems. Of particular interest was the question whether there is significant plastic soil deformation for soil stresses that remained sufficiently below the precompression stress, which is commonly neglected. Our results show that especially for cohesive soils, the assumption of fully elasticity in the recompression range may not be justified since those soils show distinct cyclic‐creep behavior. We found that deformation under cyclic loading follows a logarithmic law. We used the slope of the logarithmic fit of void‐ratio changes vs. loading cycles as a parameter to characterize the sensitivity of soils to cyclic compression. The results suggest that for characterizing the mechanical stability of soils that show cyclic creep, we have (with respect to long‐term deformation effects) to consider both precompression stress and cyclic compressibility.     

SoilFlex: A model for prediction of soil stresses and soil compaction due to agricultural field traffic including a synthesis of analytical approaches

Soil compaction is one of the most important factors responsible for soil physical degradation. Soil compaction models are important tools for controlling traffic-induced soil compaction in agriculture. A two-dimensional model for calculation of soil stresses and soil compaction due to agricultural field traffic is presented. It is written as a spreadsheet that is easy to use and therefore intended for use not only by experts in soil mechanics, but also by e.g. agricultural advisers. The model allows for a realistic prediction of the contact area and the stress distribution in the contact area from readily available tyre parameters. It is possible to simulate the passage of several machines, including e.g. tractors with dual wheels and trailers with tandem wheels. The model is based on analytical equations for stress propagation in soil. The load is applied incrementally, thus keeping the strains small for each increment. Several stress–strain relationships describing the compressive behaviour of agricultural soils are incorporated. Mechanical properties of soil can be estimated by means of pedo-transfer functions. The model includes two options for calculation of vertical displacement and rut depth, either from volumetric strains only or from both volumetric and shear strains. We show in examples that the model provides satisfactory predictions of stress propagation and changes in bulk density. However, computation results of soil deformation strongly depend on soil mechanical properties that are labour-intensive to measure and difficult to estimate and thus not readily available. Therefore, prediction of deformation might not be easily handled in practice. The model presented is called SoilFlex, because it is a soil compaction model that is flexible in terms of the model inputs, the constitutive equations describing the stress–strain relationships and the model outputs.     

Determination of pre-compression stress of a variously grazed steppe soil under static and cyclic loading

In many land use systems all over the world soil deformation is a major problem due to increasing land use intensity. On arable soils machine traffic is continuously intensified with respect to load and wheeling frequency leading to (sub-)soil compaction and deeper soil degradation concerning hydraulic or pneumatic functions. Altered soil functions, in particular reduced hydraulic conductivities and impeded aeration, may decrease crop growth and productivity as well as the filtering and buffering capacity of soils. Prevented gas exchange and longer lasting anoxia in soils due to the reduced pore continuity and pore functioning also affects global change processes. In order to evaluate potential risks for irreversible soil deformation, it is necessary to quantify their mechanical stability. A commonly applied method is the determination of the pre-compression stress, commonly under static loading conditions in oedometer tests. The determination of pre-compression stresses under static loading may not quite resemble the conditions encountered in the field where soils are loaded repeatedly with a sequence of short intermittent loading–unloading–reloading events. Such dynamic loading conditions are encountered, e.g. at multiple wheel passes or in grassland soils due to animal trampling. In this study we present a comparison of a standard (static loading) and a modified (cyclic/dynamic loading) oedometer test using data of a Calcic Chernozem from the Inner Mongolian steppe under various grazing intensities. Static loading lasted for 10 min per loading step, while the dynamic/cyclic loading was carried out by 30 s loading and following 30 s unloading (=1 cycle) for in total 20 cycles. Differences between statically and cyclically determined pre-compression stresses at an identical time of loading show lower values for the statically determined pre-compression stress values compared to those determined cyclically. Among the dynamically determined pre-compression stresses, the values decrease with increasing number of loading steps and loading time, respectively. This is particularly true for the ungrazed sites.Thus, it could also be proofed that increased grazing intensities lead to structure deformation and increased sensitivity to wind- and water erosion followed by severe land degradation of grassland soils, particularly in semi-arid areas. Furthermore, hydraulic effects, e.g. positive pore water pressure due to intense shearing and kneading processes induced by grazing animals can enhance this structural deterioration.Thus, dynamic or cyclic loading results in an intense soil deformation which also causes serious changes in ecological and soil physical properties like hydraulic conductivity or gas flux.     

Characterization of cohesion, friction and sensitivity of two hardsetting soils from Zimbabwe

Hardsetting soils are defined as those which develop very high strength with little observable structure when they dry, but lose much of their strength when wet. Sandy loam soils (haplic lixisol) which showed typical hardsetting behaviour in the field were identified in a small-scale farming are in Zimbabwe. They were too hard to cultivate when dry, and produced a cloudy structure when plowed by a tractor in a slightly moist state. Samples of two sandy loam topsoils were collected, prepared at different water contents varying from saturated to field-dry and tested for stress-deformation and shear strength behavior in a direct shear box. For both soils at water contents above 10 g 100 g⁻¹, the stress-deformation curves are of the plastic material type with continually increasing shear stress with deformation. At water contents less than 10 g 100 g⁻¹, curves associated with more brittle material behavior resulted, with a peak shear stress reached at 3–4 mm deformation followed by a considerable loss in strength. At nearly all of the water contents, the angle of friction was 34–37° for both soils, but cohesion changed from nearly zero at saturation to well over 100 kPa in the field-dry state. The contribution of matric tension alone to soil cohesion is more than enough to account for the observed increases in strength on soil drying, and the potential role of soluble silicate cementing agents does not appear to be a factor in the case of these two soils.     

Einige theoretische Überlegungen zur Spannungs- und Deformationsmessung in Böden und ihre meßtechnische Realisierung

Volumetric stress and strain distribution in soils — theory and experimental data Theoretical reflections on stress distribution and soil deformation as well as practical measurement results are presented. It can be demonstrated that under idealized soil bin conditions a loading capacity always leads to compression and shearing. Quantifying the volumetric deformation and the volume-constant deformation indicates that up to 60% can be determined as a vertical deformation whereas up to 40% must be defined as volume-constant deformation. The consequences for soil properties are subject of a short discussion.     

Mathematical modeling of the processes of soil deformation and soil compaction

The regularities of the dynamic deformation of soils with viscoelastic properties have been studied. The methods to calculate soil rheological parameters, the stress state of deformed soils, and soil compaction upon a gradual increase in pressure loads and upon cyclic sinusoidal loads created by consecutive passage of a rolling cylinder over the soil surface are suggested. The corresponding parameters have been calculated for soddy-podzolic and chernozemic soils. The quantitative assessment of the effect of a number of factors on changes in the bulk density and in the rheological properties of the soil at different depths upon the soil deformation is given.     

Variation of the critical-state boundaries of an agricultural soil

The critical-state theory can be applied profitably to analyse the mechanical behaviour of agricultural soil. Critical-state parameters and other soil properties are affected by the microstructure and unsaturated nature of agricultural soils. We determined the critical-state boundaries of an agricultural soil in both saturated and unsaturated triaxial tests and examined the effects of matric suction and initial structure on critical-state boundaries. On the compression plane, the presence of air and matric suction in the pores of unsaturated soil significantly affected critical-state boundaries by increasing compressibility, λ On the deviatoric stress-mean net stress plane, the strength increased with matric suction. On this plane, the critical-state lines for the unsaturated tests had non-zero intercepts. For a given soil structure, the frictional parameter M remained fairly constant with matric suction change. However, a change in the initial microstructure resulted in a change in M, causing the position of the critical-state line to ‘pivot’ in state space.     

Estimating critical state soil mechanics parameters from constant cell volume triaxial tests

Compaction, tillage, stresses around growing roots and other soil deformation events may be predicted by the critical state model of soil mechanics, but estimating the parameters is time consuming and expensive. We develop a back analysis of the constant cell volume triaxial test, in which the critical state parameters are derived from the results of a single test. This both saves much labour and provides more information than traditional analyses, which require several triaxial compression tests and an isotropic compression test to yield the same information. The method finds, using a minimization algorithm and a quasi-analytical solution to the stress–strain equations, the simulated soil deformation (and hence the properties used in that simulation) that best fits the test data. The minimization is a form of regression analysis. For normally consolidated samples the method provides stable estimates of the slope of the critical state line (M), the slope of the virgin compression line (λ) and elastic modulus (E). The standard errors of the estimates are small in relation to the means of these parameters. The estimates appear to be more reliable than those of more commonly used estimation procedures. The slope of the rebound line (κ) is estimated, but a measure of the accuracy of the estimate cannot be calculated.     

Influence of soil strength on root growth: experiments and analysis using a critical-state model

Roots grow thicker in compacted soil, even though it requires greater force for a large object to penetrate soil than it does for a small one. We examined the advantage of thickening in terms of the stresses around a root penetrating with constant shape, rather than the stresses around an expanding cylinder or sphere, as has been studied previously. We combined experiments and simulations of the stresses around roots growing in compacted soils. We measured the diameter of pea roots growing in sandy loam and clay loam at four different densities, and the critical‐state properties of the soils. At a penetration resistance of about 1 MPa the diameter of the roots in the sandy loam was about 40% greater than that at 0.7 MPa, and at 2 MPa it was about 60% greater. In the clay loam, there was less thickening – about 10% greater at 1 MPa and about 20% greater at 1.5 MPa. The maximum axial stresses were predicted using a critical‐state finite‐element model to be at the very tip of the root cap. When there was friction between the root and the soil, shear stresses were predicted with smaller values at the tip than just behind the tip. When the interface between the soil and the root was assumed to be frictionless, there were by definition no shear stresses. In the frictionless case the advantage of root thickening on relieving peak stress at the root tip was diminished. The axial and shear stresses were predicted to be smaller in the clay loam than in the sandy loam and may explain why the roots did not thicken in this soil although its resistance to penetration was similar. Our results suggest that the local values of axial and shear stresses experienced by the root near its tip may be as important in constraining root growth as the total penetration resistance.