Mehari Z. Tekeste, Thomas R. Way, Zamir Syed, Robert L. Schafer Journal of Terramechanics, Volume 88, 2020, Pages 41-52,ISSN 0022-4898
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jterra.2019.12.003. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022489819301466)
Abstract: Limited studies have been conducted to establish scaling relationships of soil reaction forces and length scales of bulldozer blades using the Discrete Element Method (DEM) technique. With a DEM-based similitude scaling law, performance of industry-scale blades can be predicted at reduced simulation efforts provided a calibrated and validated DEM soil model is developed. DEM material properties were developed to match soil cone penetration testing. The objectives of the study were to develop a DEM soil model for Norfolk sandy loam soil, establish a scaled relationship of soil reaction forces to bulldozer blade length scales (n = 0.24, n = 0.14, n = 0.10, and n = 0.05), and validate the DEM-predicted soil reaction forces on the scaled bulldozer blades to the Norfolk sandy loam soil bin data. Using 3D-scanned and reconstructed DEM soil aggregate shapes, Design of Experiment (DOE) of soil cone penetration testing was used to develop a soil model and a soil-bulldozer blade simulation. A power fit best approximated the relationship between the DEM-predicted soil horizontal forces and the bulldozer blade length scale (n) (R2 = 0.9976). DEM prediction of soil horizontal forces on the bulldozer blades explained the Norfolk sandy loam soil data with a linear regression fit (R2 = 0.9965 and slope = 0.9634).
Keywords: Discrete element method; Similitude; Soil horizontal force; Soil vertical force