TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..........................................................................................................vii

CHAPTER

1 INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................1

2 LITERATURE REVIEW..............................................................................................5

Measurement and Prediction of Soil Compaction.....................................................8

Soil Behavior Modeling due to Cone Penetration...................................................22

Soil Strength Spatial Variability..............................................................................23

Current Applications of Cone Index Measurement.................................................25

References...............................................................................................................28

3 SOIL DRYING EFFECTS ON SOIL CONE PENETRATION RESISTANCE FOR NORFOLK SANDY LOAM SOIL.........................................................................38

Abstract...................................................................................................................39

Introduction.............................................................................................................40

Materials and Methods............................................................................................44

Soil Preparation and Experimental Design.......................................................44

Cone Index Analysis.........................................................................................45

Results and Discussion............................................................................................47

Conclusions.............................................................................................................54

References...............................................................................................................55


 

 

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4 SPATIAL VARIABILITY OF SOIL CONE PENETRATION RESISTANCE AS INFLUENCED BY SOIL MOISTURE ON PACOLET SANDY LOAM SOIL IN THE SOUTHEASTERN US...................................................................................58

Abstract...................................................................................................................59

Introduction.............................................................................................................59

Materials and Methods............................................................................................62

Site Description.................................................................................................62

Experimental Design.........................................................................................62

Results and Discussion............................................................................................67

Gravimetric Soil Moisture.................................................................................67

Soil Bulk Density..............................................................................................68

Maximum Bulk Density and the Depth to the Maximum Bulk Density...........69

Peak Cone Index and the Depth to the Peak Cone Index..................................71

Spatial Variability Analysis ..............................................................................73

Conclusions.............................................................................................................76

References...............................................................................................................77

5 FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF CONE PENETRATION RESISTANCE FOR PREDICTING SOIL HARDPAN ATTRIBUTES AS INFLUENCED BY SOIL MOISTURE, SOIL DENSITY, AND CONE MATERIALS.................................80

Abstract...................................................................................................................81

Introduction.............................................................................................................82

Materials and Methods............................................................................................84

Material Parameters for Soil Constitutive Model..............................................84


 

 

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FE Problem Formulation and Procedures.........................................................88

Experiment for Verification of FE Prediction of Soil Hardpan Attributes.......90

Data Analysis....................................................................................................91

Results and Discussion............................................................................................91

Soil Hardpan Attributes Prediction using Cone Penetrometer and Finite Element 92

Conclusions.............................................................................................................94

Acknowledgments...................................................................................................95

References...............................................................................................................99

6 ACOUSTIC COMPACTION LAYER DETECTION..............................................102

Abstract.................................................................................................................103

Introduction...........................................................................................................104

Materials and Methods................................106

Acoustic Measurement Systems..................106

Experiments.....................................................................................................107

Soil Preparation...............................................................................................109

Results and Discussion..........................................................................................110

Constant Depth Experiments...........................................................................111

Variable Depth Experiments...........................................................................114

Conclusions....................................................................................................117

References......................................................................................................118

7 CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE STUDIES............................................................121

Cause-Effect Relationships........................................................................................121

Spatial Variability Analysis.......................................................................................122


 

 

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Finite Element Modeling...........................................................................................123

Acoustic based Compaction Sensor...........................................................................125

APPENDICES............................................................................................................................126

A. Non-Linear Finite Element Modeling of Soil Cone Penetration in Layered Norfolk Sandy Loam Soil- Considering Pre-Compression Stress......................................126

Introduction................................................................................................................126

Constitutive Soil Models............................................................................................127

References..................................................................................................................135

B. Images and Pictures......................................140

C. ABAQUS/Explicit Input File.....................................................................................147