Measurement and simulation of triaxial compression tests for a sandy loam soil

Abstract

In the past, most research on soil mechanical properties was carried out for cohesionless soils in the fields of civil and geotechnical engineering. Little research has been carried out for mechanical properties of agricultural soil, which are essential for designing soil engaging tools in agriculture. In this study, unconsolidated undrained triaxial compression tests were performed to study the effects of moisture level and confining pressure on a sandy loam soil. The soil specimens tested had three moisture levels, and they were high (27-29% d.b.), medium (19-21% d.b.) and low (9-11% d.b.). The confining pressures used for the triaxial tests were 50, 100, and 150 kPa. Soil specimen was loaded at a strain rate of 1%/min. Measurements from the tests included stress-strain curve, shear strength, Young’s modulus, Poisson’s ratio, angle of internal friction, and cohesion. A model was developed using the Discrete Element Method (DEM) and computed by Particle Flow Code in three dimensions (PFC3D), a common DEM software. The model simulated the triaxial compression tests, and the model specimen was an assembly of 5-mm spherical particles which were defined by a set of micro parameters. During simulations, soil shear strength was monitored under different confining pressures. Through sensitivity analysis, it was found that most of the micro parameters affected the simulated soil shear strengths and the stress-strain behaviours. The most influential micro parameter was particle friction coefficient. This micro parameter was calibrated with the data from triaxial tests for different combinations of soil moisture levels and confining pressures. The calibrated particle friction coefficients varied from 0.2 to 1.0. The calibrations were done through matching the shear strengths between simulations and measurements, and the relative errors ranged between 0 and 6 %.