Prediction of soil vertical stress under off-road tire using smoothed-particle hydrodynamics

Abstract

Evaluation of vertical stress distribution in clay-loam soil using Smoothed-Particle Hydrodynamics-Finite Element Analysis (SPH-FEA) technique is presented in this research. The moist soil is modelled using the hydrodynamic elastic–plastic material and Murnaghan equation of state, while the tire is modelled using FEA in Visual Environment’s Pam-Crash software. Soil-tire interaction is performed using the node symmetric node to segment with edge treatment method. A single-wheel tester in a soil bin environment was utilized to provide experimental data. The objectives of the experimental test were to (1) calculate maximum subsoil stresses in the subsoil at 1 to 15 passes of a wheel with loads of 1, 2, 4, and 5 kN on soil with moisture levels of 0, 10, 17, and 24%.; (2) calibrate soil with different levels of moisture (3) compare predicted soil stresses with experiments. The maximum stress at 20 cm depth increased with increasing soil moisture and also with high levels of tire load. In contrast, successive traffic showed a decreasing effect on soil stress. The coefficient of determination 0.97 shows the predictions agreed very well with experiments. The moist soil-tire interaction model will be further used to analyze the soil stress in different soil depths and different forward velocity.