Soil & Tillage Research, 11 (1988) 325-347 325

Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam - - Printed in The Netherlands

Theoretical Soil Mechanics and Implement Design

D.R.P. HETTIARATCHI
Agricultural Engineering Department, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon
Tyne NE1 7RU (Gt. Britain)
(Accepted for publication 14 September 1987)

ABSTRACT

Hettiaratchi, D.R.P., 1988. Theoretical soil mechanics and implement design. Soil Tillage Res.,
11: 325-347.

The past few decades have seen the steady assimilation of developments in theoretical soil
mechanics into the repertoire of analytical techniques for investigating complex soil-machine
interactions. This paper attempts to review the contribution made by this knowledge in reinforc-
ing the inherently empirical nature of tillage-implement design and development. The estimation
of both quasi-static and dynamic tool forces, the evaluation of soil-disturbance patterns and prob-
lems of scouring and vibratory soil cutting have been approached from the point of view of classical
soil-mechanics theory. The discussion also shows that the way tillage tools alter the physical
environment of plant roots falls within the scope of critical-state soil mechanics and plant bio-
mechanics.
It has been shown that failing soil in tension is both a draught and energy-efficient form of
loosening soil, and this points to new and challenging directions for the design and development
of the next generation of primary-tillage implements.

INTRODUCTION

T h e r e p r o d u c t i o n of t h e rock c a r v i n g of a p l o u g h m a n on t h e cover of Soil &

Tillage R e s e a r c h is a m p l e p r o o f t h a t i m p l e m e n t design actually p r e - d a t e s soil
mechanics! W h a t t h e n is t h e b e l a t e d c o n t r i b u t i o n m a d e by s o i l - m e c h a n i c s the-
ory to t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f agricultural tillage tools? In e x a m i n i n g this q u e s t i o n
it is w o r t h w h i l e r e m e m b e r i n g t h a t soil m e c h a n i c s is n o t t h e o n l y discipline
t h a t has h e l p e d to m o u l d m o d e r n agriculture as we k n o w it today, a n d m u c h
wider c o n s i d e r a t i o n s m u s t be t a k e n into a c c o u n t in the analysis. Soil m e c h a n -
ics is a c o m p a r a t i v e l y y o u n g discipline and, as its q u e s t for a n u n d e r s t a n d i n g
o f t h e m e c h a n i c a l b e h a v i o u r of soils m a d e headway, the findings h e l p e d to
a u g m e n t t h e e m p i r i c i s m i n h e r e n t in t h e process o f tillage-tool design. T h e pa-
p e r a t t e m p t s to review the i m p a c t o f t h e o r e t i c a l soil m e c h a n i c s on our c u r r e n t
u n d e r s t a n d i n g of t h e i n t e r a c t i o n o f m a c h i n e e l e m e n t s w i t h soil.

0167-1987/88/$03.50 © 1988 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.

326

THE ENGINEERING CONNECTION

The discipline of soil mechanics evolved at the turn of this century, as a

specialised branch of applied mechanics and was associated exclusively with
the solution of problems in civil efigineering, with the main effort directed at
obtaining a better understanding of the long-term stability of large structures
interacting with saturated soils. In contrast, in a typical soil-machine system
short-duration loads are applied to small areas and the soil, which is not nec-
essarily saturated, is invariably brought to failure. The need to deal with these
significant differences has led to the development of the new discipline of
ISOIL MACHINE MECHANICSI

ISDIL VEH'CLEI
MECHANICS I
ISO'L IMPLEMENTI
L MECHANICS I
PLANT ROOT
BIO'MECHANtC-c
!i
TMr° lilY '
Soit Draught
Disturbance
J
Mechunica-~
Imp e dance 1
tCompactionl tRoot Growth

[TDRAINAGE
RRIGATION [Soil Moisture}

Fig. 1. General organization chart.

[f ISoit DisturbonceZones] ~, . . . . . . . . . {CR, ITICALSTATE SOIL MECHANICS I

r-~--~ c ° mpact i° n -~;7"~:7~ {. . . . . . . . . i
r .... -(- ,, tLoosen~ng

MACHINE SOIL PLANT

IScouringl " ~Mechanical Confinementlr J

. . . . . . . -[CLASS ICAL SOIL 1,4ECHANICS}--J j PLANT-BIO MECHANICS~
Fig. 2. The main pathways traced by the interactions between machine, soil and plant roots and
the models used in their analysis.
 327

soil-machine mechanics, which deals with soil-machine interactions in the

agricultural and earth-moving industries and in certain aspects of military en-
gineering such as the performance of off-road vehicles. The recognition of these
special exigencies has culminated in the formation of the ISTVS and ISTRO,
both societies having their own thriving learned journals.
In agriculture the end objective of machine operations on the soil is to ensure
the best possible environment for the growth and proliferation of the roots of
crops. This biological component is perhaps the key constituent in the entire
soil-machine system in agriculture and the discipline of soil-machine mechan-
ics must encompass a study of plant root growth.
The basic structural blocks, which constitute the discipline of soil-machine
mechanics, are set out in the organization chart in Fig. 1. Soil-vehicle me-
chanics is mainly concerned with off-road mobility and traction of vehicles
and the sequel to which activity results in compaction problems in the soil. On
the other hand, soil-implement mechanics deals with implement draught and
soil-disturbance zones and is usually associated with soil loosening.
As shown in Fig. 2 the engineering input into the system comes from two
separate aspects of soil mechanics designated classical soil mechanics and crit-
ical-state soil mechanics. The former subject handles the analysis of soil forces
on machine elements, helps to identify the soil-disturbance zones induced by
soil failure and deals with the problems of scouring of tool surfaces. A rigid
perfectly-plastic soil-failure model is used in this approach, and the stresses at
failure are related by the simple linear Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion. This
model takes no account of the strains in the soil and is thus incapable of saying
anything about soil-volume changes taking place during the loading process.
This aspect is dealt with by critical-state soil mechanics which models the
volume-change behaviour of soil to applied stresses. The paper attempts to
review the main developments in soil-implement mechanics in the light of these
two models with a brief reference to their relevance in plant root bio-mechanics.

CLASSICALSOIL MECHANICS

The evaluation of all earth pressure problems involves the following basic
factors: (1) a knowledge of external loads and their displacements; (2) esti-
mation of internal stresses and associated displacements; (3) a failure crite-
rion for the soil; (4) a suitable failure mechanism. In practice it is difficult to
formulate a failure mechanism which will simultaneously satisfy the remain-
ing 3 conditions in any but the simplest problems. There are thus two compro-
mise solution techniques in current use: ( 1 ) limit analysis methods which accept
any arbitrary failure mechanism in which the energy input from the displace-
ments of the external loads must be entirely dissipated by the internal stresses
and their associated displacements. No account is taken of equilibrium con-
ditions; (2) the slip-line method where a failure mechanism is constructed to
328

IZ:'I~/~¢ 0

(c)

Fig. 3. (a) Stress system in three-dimensional soil failure; (b) stress system in two-dimensional
soil failure; (c) logarithmic-spiral solution; (d) slip-line field at machine-soil interface in loga-
rithmic-spiral solution.

contain a stress field which is in equilibrium with the external loads and the
stresses nowhere violate the failure criterion, in this case no account is taken
of energy dissipation or displacements. The methods discussed in this paper
fall almost exclusively into the latter category and this choice is dictated by
the need to obtain order of magnitude predictions to extremely complex prob-
lems. Usually practical experience or simple experiments form the basis on
which the failure mechanism is constructed.
The most general stress field induced by soil-machine interactions is three-
dimensional. As shown in Fig. 3a there are normal and shear stresses on all 6
faces of an elemental cube of soil, and the development of admissible failure
mechanisms is fraught with considerable difficulty. However, the two-dimen-
sional stress system shown in Fig. 3b is easier to deal with. The presence of the
body force W introduces certain complications but, as will be shown later, this
is not a problem in most soil-machine systems. Prior to examining the details
of this method in classical soil mechanics it should be stated that in a vast
majority of instances only passive pressure is encountered and hence the dis-
cussion will dwell only on this form of earth pressure.

Two-dimensional soil failure problems

Determining a failure mechanism for this type of problem consists of de-

marcating a rupture zone within which the shear and normal stresses are at
incipient failure and the stresses at the boundaries are in equilibrium with the
external forces acting on them. Such a boundary was proposed by Ohde (de-
scribed by Terzaghi, 1943). The essential features of this logarithmic spiral
boundary are shown in Fig. 3c. The zone OBC is a passive Rankine zone where
 329

the principal stresses are everywhere in vertical and horizontal planes. The
zone OAB adjacent to the plane machine element OA is a complex shear zone
bounded by part of a logarithmic spiral AB with its pole at O'. The force acting
on the machine element OA is obtained by examining the static equilibrium of
the boundary forces and determining the position of O' to give this a minimum
value. Details of this analysis were set out by Terzaghi for analysing retaining
walls and re-stated by Hettiaratchi et al. (1966) in the soil-machine context.
This technique is still widely used by engineers for estimating soil-structure
interactions. However, it presents three difficulties when it is applied to
soil-machine systems. It will be seen from Fig. 3c that when the rake angle, c~,
is small, the machine element OA' lies wholly within the Rankine zone and
the construction fails in this case. This range of rake angles is vital to the study
of many soil-machine interactions such as plough shares and sweeps.
The second objection is one of detail and concerns the inclination made by
the slip-line field with the machine element OA. If the pole O' does not coincide
with the point O then, as shown in Fig. 3d, the radial slip-lines make a contin-
ually varying angle with the machine element over its length. Soil is assumed
to be sliding up the machine element OA. The varying obliquity of the slip lines
along OA implies that ~ in the sliding friction equation ~-- a + a tan ~ must be
different at each point on the machine element, and this is patently not possible.
The third difficulty is concerned with a commonplace observation on the
behaviour of soil-cutting tools. It has long been known that under certain an-
gles of attack, ~, even highly-polished cutting tools develop fixed soil bodies.
The logarithmic-spiral method gives no insight as to how these soil bodies are
formed nor does it tell us how the forces can be calculated in this situation.
The semi-empirical method of the logarithmic-spiral solution can be vastly
improved and the difficulties just outlined overcome by the method proposed
by Sokolovski ( 1960 ) who provided the numerical solutions to the basic partial
differential equations of equilibrium.
Sokolovski's numerical solution, by the method of characteristics, is without
doubt the best available rigorous analytical tool for the construction of the
failure mechanism in two-dimensional soil failure. It proves to be central to
the analytical treatment of many soil-machine mechanics problems and is likely
to be the basis for any future semi-empirical solution to the three-dimensional
problem. It is therefore worthwhile to examine in outline the salient steps of
the solution.
The numerical solution commences from the boundary OD shown in Fig. 4a.
This boundary can carry an optional normal surface surcharge pressure q and,
as this is not a characteristic direction, the numerical solution follows the Cau-
chy boundary-value solution and the stresses everywhere within the zone OCD
can be calculated. Once the stresses on the characteristic boundary OC are
known, the solution method proposed by Goursat can be applied to solve the
equations between this boundary and the other characteristic boundary OB.
330
/"~--L 0 1 2 3 t", 01 ~ ~ 0

A C 6 5 z.
Oc
~ , D 0~ ~ D
( A~ (d)

Fig. 4. (a) Development of a Sokolovski rupture surface; (b) nodes in the numerical solution
corresponding to (a); (c) limiting rake angle at which the transition zone vanishes; (d) small
rake angle solution with stress discontinuity OE.

Finally, the equations are integrated as a mixed boundary-value problem in

zone OAB, where the stresses on OA are not known but the direction of the
characteristics along it are pre-determined by the soil-interface properties.
The numerical solution thus provides an estimate of the boundary stresses
on the machine element OA and builds up a complete slip-line field. The slip-
line containing the point A, demarcates the so-called rupture block which is
now the assumed failure mechanism. Note that there is no tedious minimising
procedure. The discrete nodes in the construction of this stress and character-
istic field are set out in Fig. 4b.
This solution requires a large number of calculation steps and can in reality
be carried out only on a powerful computer. Such a computer solution was
published by Graham ( 1971 ) for a cohesionless sand and a complete computer
solution for a c - ¢ soil was developed by Hettiaratchi (1968a).
W h e n the body forces W shown in Figs. 3a and b are present the slip-line
field in the zones OAB and OBC in Fig. 4a is composed of curved lines. If the
surcharge q is not uniformly distributed over OD then the zone OCD is also
composed of a curvilinear mesh. Space precludes a detailed discussion of the
influence of soil self-weight but it would suffice to state that the non-dimen-
sional groups c/yz and q/Tz reflect the influence of self-weight. Very large val-
ues of these numbers represent an ideal weightless soil (in this case y - , 0 ) .
Equally, for a practical range of values of c and q these numbers can take on
large values when z is small. This is indeed the case in most soil-machine
systems (small cutting depths ) so that such boundary conditions generate rup-
ture surfaces commensurate with an ideal weightless soil. Details of the slip-
line field for this case are as follows: (1) the mesh in zones OAB and OCD
consists of sets of straight lines intersecting at ~ - - 9 0 ° - 0 ; (2) the radial slip
 331

lines OB, 08, 07, OC etc. are all straight lines and the companion family of
curved slip planes comprise a family of logarithmic spirals with pole at O.
These facts provide the engineer with a powerful method of developing slip-
line fields using an extension of the logarithmic-spiral method without the
need for a trial-and-error estimation of the rupture surface. The associated
calculation procedure can still be tedious, but this difficulty may be circum-
vented by using a computer to calculate the non-dimensional soil-resistance
K-factors in the general earth-pressure equations proposed by Reece (1965)
P = }'z 2K:. + czK,.a + qzKq
The relevant K-factors have been published by Hettiaratchi and Reece ( 1974 )
and these enable rapid calculation of forces on plane machine elements devel-
oping two-dimensional soil failure. The technique also provides an accurate
estimate of the volume of soil disturbed at failure.
The rupture boundary now encloses three distinct zones (Fig. 4a): the in-
terface zone (I), the transition zone (T) and the Rankine zone (R). One of
the objections to the logarithmic-spiral solution has now been removed. The
slip-lines in the zone OAB make a constant inclination along the length of the
machine element OA.
The proportions of the interface zone OAB is a function of the roughness of
the machine element. Thus when the rake angle, c~, is reduced, a point is reached
where the transition zone disappears (Fig. 4c) and any further decrease in the
rake angle results in the interface zone lying within the Rankine zone. The
solution to this small rake-angle problem is shown in Fig. 4d where a stress
discontinuity OE separates the two zones. This type of discontinuous stress
field was proposed by Shield (1954) and this can be readily adapted to extend
the Sokolovski numerical solution and leads to the somewhat unexpected but
distinctive concave rupture surface. In the real situation, the rupture boundary
AED is a continuous concave surface and glass-box photographs confirm the
presence of such unusual failure boundaries (see Hettiaratchi and Reece, 1975 ).
The problem of soil scouring, although initiated by the adhesive properties
of a machine element, develops as a result of the kinematics of its motion. This
effect has been described by Hettiaratchi and Reece (1975) and is controlled
by the formation of boundary wedges. A brief outline of the salient points in
this theory will be set out here as it is the basis for analysing scouring of tools.
Consider the machine element OA in Fig. 5a, which has a rough surface and
develops the Sokolovski rupture surface ABCD. If the machine element trans-
lates horizontally then it will run into the predicted rupture surface and this
gives rise to a form of soil cavitation. The cavitation process redistributes the
soil in the neighbourhood of OA and develops a boundary wedge OAB' shown
in Fig. 5b. This wedge is fixed, relative to the machine element, and the surface
of the element will not scour no matter how small the adhesion is between it
and the soil. The wedge has a lower boundary AB' parallel to the direction of
332

0 ",'

Fig. 5. (a) Basic Sokolovski rupture surface for a partly-rough machine element; (b) machine
element will not scour for horizontal translation. Soil wedge (W) adheres to element.

translation and this effectively converts the machine element into a perfectly
rough surface, effectively located at OB'. Soil now slides up this surface. It is
interesting to note that the angle of friction mobilised on the surface of the
machine element is now less than its maximum value at sliding.

Three-dimensional soil failure problems

The Sokolovski solution just outlined provides a coherent basic framework

for a full understanding of how machine elements generating two-dimensional
failure interact with soil. There is no obvious way of extending this numerical
solution technique to cover the general three-dimensional problem. As shown
in Fig. 3a there are 6 unknown stresses together with the body forces. The
Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion is a function of only two principal stresses,
with the intermediate principal stress playing no part in the failure condition.
It would therefore appear that there is no simple mathematical technique for
solving these partial differential equations for complex boundary conditions.
Faced with these difficulties the sensible approach to the solution of such
problems is still a semi-empirical one and is based on the formulation of a
failure mechanism which accords with practical observation. Once an accept-
able rupture configuration has been established then the force components can
be evaluated by simple statics. The pioneer analysis of the forces on a narrow
rigid tine on this basis was carried out by Payne (1956). The geometry of ob-
served failure shapes was reconstructed as shown in Fig. 6a. In this analysis a
fixed kinematic boundary wedge was allowed for.
In the model proposed by Godwin and Spoor (1977) this wedge was left out
and the failure geometry used in their analysis is shown in Fig. 6b. The need
to relate the proportions of the failure mechanism to observed shapes was ob-
viated by McKyes and Ali (1977). Their rupture surface is shown in Fig. 6c
and it will be noticed that the lower boundary is wedge shaped. This method
has general application and force coefficients have been published. A technique
similar to the logarithmic-spiral solution was used in deriving these non-di-
mensional coefficients. The rupture zone was broken down into simple geo-
 333

Y (d) .~[~, ~' (e)

Fig. 6. Rupture surfacesused in the analysis of soil failure by narrow rigid tines. (a) Payne ( 1956);
(b) Godwin and Spoor (1977); (c) McKyes and Ali (1977); (d) Perumpral et al. (1983); (e)
Hettiaratchi and Reece (1967); (f) O'Callaghan and Farrelly (1964).

metrical shapes and the forces on these were used to derive the draught on the
tine. The geometry of the surface was then altered until this force was a min-
imum. A similar approach using a limit-analysis model was presented by Per-
umpral et al. (1983) who simplified the rupture shape to the simple wedge
shown in Fig. 6d. The forces on the sides of the wedge were estimated by as-
suming the earth-pressure coefficient relevant to this zone as being the earth
pressure at rest.
A different technique was adopted by Hettiaratchi and Reece (1967). In this
method the stress field was assumed to be the resultant of the vector sum of
two orthogonal stress fields, one of which was vertical and the other horizontal.
These fields, shown in Fig. 6e, have no basis in theory and result from an
empirical expedient which appears to predict the rupture surface similar to
that used by Payne. This is also a general solution and non-dimensional force
coefficients have been published, but the overall performance is not good.
Early researchers such as Zelenin (1950) observed that the failure pattern
developed by deep tines was different to t h a t produced by shallow ones. T h e y
recorded that in a deep tine only part of the top section of the tine was involved
in moving soil to the surface. A quantitative approach to a model with a two-
stage failure pattern was made by O'Callaghan and Farrelly (1964). The rup-
ture shape for this analysis is shown in Fig. 6f. The two-stage failure is of
crucial importance in the design of tine implements. Evidently, tines which
exceed the critical depth at which sideways failure takes place will not function
as a soil-loosening tool.
O'Callaghan and McCullen (1965) showed that this critical depth is a func-
334

E D C" C

N
(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 7. (a) Rupture surface for a sub-surface cutting blade translating horizontally (Albuquerque
and Hettiaratchi, 1980); (b) rupture surface for a sub-surface cutting blade translating vertically
(Sarker et al., 1985 ), (c) critical embedment ratio.

tion of the aspect ratio A--z/w and the rake angle a. They found the critical
value Ac to lie in the range 0.67<Ac<2.7, the lower limit corresponding to a
vertical tine and the upper value a = 45 °. Godwin and Spoor (1977) proposed
that the critical depth was proportioned so that the two modes of failure gave
a minimum value to the draught force for any given tine width and rake angle.

NON-SINGULAR POINT SOLUTIONS

In the analysis of both two- and three-dimensional problems, discussed so

far, the machine element in contact with the soil was assumed to reach up to
the soil surface. Many sub-surface cutting tools used in agriculture, such as
sub-soilers, sweeps and chisel ploughs do not meet this requirement. The shank
of such tools is not designed to work the soil and being only a suspension link
does not constitute an extension of the working parts of the tool to the soil
surface.
The analysis of such soil-failure problems cannot be dealt with by the rig-
orous Sokolovski method because in this situation there is no singular point
which has a common boundary with the tool and the soil surface. As discussed
earlier the Sokolovski solution was mathematically feasible only because of
the presence of this common singular point. As was the case with the three-
dimensional equilibrium equations there is no known mathematical solution
to this type of boundary-value problem and once again semi-empirical methods
have to be employed.
A procedure for dealing with this class of problem was proposed by Witney
( 1966, 1969 ) who developed the basic analysis in the evaluation of the bearing
capacity of deep footings. The essence of this approach is the development of
the modified Rankine zone OCDE shown in Fig. 7a. The geometry of this zone
is determined by the position of the boundary OC which is defined by the mag-
nitude of the angle ~. There are an infinite number of possibilities but only one
 335

unique value which will give complete static equilibrium of the forces on the
boundaries. Once this angle is determined the remaining rupture surface can
be then constructed using elements of the Sokolovski rupture surface shown
in Figs. 4a, d and 5b. This technique was adapted by Albuquerque and Het-
tiaratchi (1980) to deal with the force calculation of sub-surface cutting blades
translating in a horizontal direction. The restriction to the horizontal trans-
lation ensured that the angle of friction on the machine element was fully
mobilised, with the soil sliding up the tool face towards the soil surface. A
kinematic constraint is introduced when the tool itself is allowed to translate
upwards and this manifests itself as a reversal of friction on the kinematic
wedge formed on the machine element. The modified analysis to meet this
requirement was developed by Sarker et al. (1985). The modified Sokolovski
rupture surface for this form of soil failure is shown in Fig. 7b and is for a
horizontal plate pulled vertically up towards the soil surface. The critical di-
rection of translation at which the rupture surface shown in Fig. 7b reverts to
that shown in Fig. 7a can be estimated from simple kinematic considerations
(see Sarker et al., 1985).
It should be emphasised that the non-singular point solutions described so
far are only applicable to two-dimensional soil-failure problems. However, they
can be extended by constructing similar failure surfaces on the short sides of
the machine element. An important consequence of this analysis is the recog-
nition of the fact that there is, once again, a critical value Pc of the embedment
ratio p = h/z, beyond which the rupture surface does not reach the soil surface.
This effect is shown schematically in Fig. 7c, where the rupture surface labelled
A just reaches the soil surface (P=Pc) but the one labelled B does not. This
effect was first described by Spoor and Godwin (1978) who proposed the choice
of the appropriate embedment ratio to avoid this effect. If the critical embed-
ment ratio is exceeded then the soil disturbance zone is severely limited and
the tool ceases to function as a soil-loosening tool and may, contrary to expec-
tations, compact the soil at depth.

COMPLEX SOIL-FAILUREPROBLEMS

The soil-loading machine element in the problems dealt with so far was of
relatively simple shape and, in most cases, can be represented by a plane sur-
face. Not all soil-machine interactions fall into this category, and an example
of such a situation is that posed by soil cutting with disc tools. The evaluation
of the performance of such tools cannot be dealt with either by the rigorous
mathematical methods used in the two-dimensional problems nor by the semi-
empirical three-dimensional theories.
A useful understanding of these problems can be obtained by carefully-con-
ducted experiments in soil bins and several authoritative analyses of this type
have been carried out by Gill et al. (1980, 1981). Godwin et al. (1985) have
336

published a theoretical analysis dealing with the complex geometry by break-

ing down the soil-disc interface into curved segments, each of which is assumed
to generate plane soil failure. In the absence of a rigorous theory both these
techniques yield valuable results. An additional complication that is present
in the cutting process is the fact that the disc rotates relative to the soil. This
has the effect of altering the direction of sliding of the soil on the disc surface
and changes the customary upwards sliding to an inclined one. The conse-
quence of this is that the mobilised angles of friction and adhesion are no longer
contained in vertical planes on the machine element.
Certain other performance factors of disc tools can be analysed from kine-
matic considerations alone. For example, Godwin et al. (1985) have shown
that under certain circumstances a disc can develop a scrubbing action on the
convex side of the disc. The forces in this mode have been derived on the basis
of a bearing capacity type of failure. A similar kinematic analysis was used by
Gill (1985) to predict the nature of the cut surface left by disc tools.
In the analysis of mouldboard ploughs the share itself can be considered as
a plane skew cutting surface which can be analysed by the rigorous two-dimen-
sional theory. However, the handling of the cut soil by the mouldboard can
only be dealt with as a complicated problem in kinematics and dynamics.
O'Callaghan and McCoy (1965) have analysed the trajectories of the soil over
the mouldboard and derived the forces required to accelerate the soil on the
curved surfaces; from this analysis the overall draught of the implement can
be deduced.
Yet another technique that can be used in the analysis of complex problems,
to which there are no known closed solutions, is the use of model testing. As is
well known in the field of mechanics the entire art of model testing and di-
mensional analysis has to be approached with some caution. A pioneer appli-
cation of this technique to soil-deformation processes was presented by
Schuring and Emori (1964) and the relevance of dimensional analysis in soil
mechanics was analysed by Krause (1970). A recent translation of the work
of Balovnev (1974) deals with many aspects of scale-model investigations in
soil-machine interactions.
Consider the simplified case where inertia forces are neglected. The quasi-
static force P on the machine element is then a function of the following non-
dimensional groups (see for example Hettiaratchi et al., 1974)
P/?z 2=[(c/?z, q/?z, 0, 8)
To obtain complete similarity between model and prototype all the non-di-
mensional groups in the right-hand side of this equation must be the same in
both systems. It is evident that this is impossible to achieve in practice. If it is
assumed that the dominant non-dimensional groups are c/?z, ¢ and ~, then
these values could be adjusted in an artificial soil in which the model of the
 337

machine can be tested. Evidently this technique is of fairly limited practical

value in all but the most complex interactions.
Valuable information on mainly kinematic and geometric information can
be gleaned from simple glass-box experiments. These experiments are useful
in determining the rupture-surface configuration and the movement of soil by
machine elements. Even so, the glass-sided tank experiments can only handle
two-dimensional problems and three-dimensional examples have to be dealt
with by more elaborate methods using X-rays or by the location of embedded
marker particles.

DYNAMICEFFECTS

The different soil-machine interactions discussed so far apply to the ideal-

ised quasi-static case where inertia forces and its associated effects have been
neglected. The major influence of speed is manifest as a rapid increase in
draught due mainly to the forces required to accelerate the failed soil. A valu-
able experimental investigation was carried out by Stafford (1979) on the per-
formance of narrow tines and identified further effects of speed. He pointed
out that the type of failure can change from a brittle nature to a plastic form,
and there was evidence that the failure parameters could alter with speed of
loading. Olson and Weber (1965) showed that there was no significant influ-
ence on the failure geometry owing to rate effects.
The definitive analysis of the forces required to accelerate the soil over plough
mouldboards was made by O'Callaghan et al. (1965). An investigation into
inertia loads on narrow tines was conducted by Swick and Perumpral (1985).
These investigations were based on the prediction of the motion of parts of the
rupture zones from kinematic and geometric considerations. The inertia forces
are obtained from a knowledge of the acceleration of these zones. As a broad
generalization it may be stated that inertia forces vary as a power law of the
non-dimensional group Kv = ( v 2/ g z ) : P/~z 3 = [ ( Kv) n. At low operational speeds
the exponent n in this law is very small and the inertia effects are small. The
transition value of Kv where inertia loads predominate depends on the geom-
etry of the tool and the soil type it is working. For a plane machine element
working a clay soil the transition value is K~ = 5 (Schuring et al., 1964 ). When
K~ > 60 the value of n = 1.

CRITICAL-STATESOIL MECHANICS

M e c h a n i c a l behaviour of soils

The alteration of the pore space in a field soil is a consequence of all eng-
ineering operations. A thorough understanding of the processes controlling
these changes is of vital importance to tillage and traction mechanics. Recent
338

developments in critical-state soil mechanics provide an excellent basis for

examining the way soil-pore space changes with applied stresses. Details of
this model are rooted in the complex world of plasticity theory and need not
concern us here. A comprehensive and very readable statement of the theory
will be found in the book by Atkinson and Bransby (1978). A 'no-frills' account
of the application of these theories to partly-saturated agricultural soils has
been presented by Hettiaratchi and O'Callaghan (1980) and details of a model
adapted to agricultural soils are set out by Hettiaratchi (1987). The reader is
referred to these papers for the necessary background material and at this stage
it would suffice to consider the relevance of the theory in understanding tillage
and traction problems in partly-saturated soils.
The drawings in Fig. 8 show the familiar state boundaries in state space. We
need to remind ourselves that state paths within the state boundaries are as-
sociated with elastic recoverable deformations and are of no significance to the
present discussion. State paths traversing the Roscoe surface (R) involve soil
compaction and, conversely, those lying on the Hvorslev surface (H) cause
soil dilation. State paths leading to the tension cut-off surface (T) cause soil
cracking without the soil everywhere necessarily reaching a critical state. The
mechanical behaviour of a soil at a particular moisture content is thus uniquely
defined by its state boundaries.

Influence of moisture content

The state boundaries of partly-saturated sands, loams and clays have been
investigated at Newcastle (Hettiaratchi and O'Callaghan, 1985; Hatibu and
Hettiaratchi, 1986; Hettiaratchi, 1987) and it has been found that the state-
boundary surfaces alter in a predictable fashion. As depicted schematically in
Fig. 9a the state-boundary surfaces occupy a larger proportion of state space
in the dry state than in the wet or saturated condition. Both the critical-state
line and the normal-consolidation line appear to pivot about fixed axes labelled
N and C in Fig. 9. In general, systematic changes in state space with moisture
content can be quantified, within the bounds of experimental accuracy.

Implement performance

The objective of nearly all tillage tools is to loosen the soil from an initial
compact state. If this requirement is to be met then the state paths induced by
such tools must reach and follow the Hvorslev surface up to critical. Alterna-
tively, the state path must reach the tension cut-off surface, in which event the
soil will crack into large clods without any overall change in pore space. The
general requirement encompassing both these stipulations is that all the state
paths must lie within the super-critical domain. The criteria for determining
 339

T~.~ H
.... O

P P 2

Fig. 8. State paths and volume change behaviour in critical-state space. (a) Compaction in sub-
critical domain; (b) dilation in super-critical domain; (c) tensile failure in super-critical zone.
Note: R = Roscoe surface; H = Hvorslev surface; T = tension cut-off surface.
fx v

/ I~i) ~ C_
\

I Pq

(b) (c)
~~v.~ (a)
Fig. 9. (a) Influence of moisture content on state boundaries: full l i n e s = d r y soil; broken
lines = saturated soil. Alteration in soil behaviour due to changes in moisture content; (b) dry soil;
(c) wet soil. Note: (i) = sub-critical domain; (ii) = super-critical domain.

whether a tool will produce a suitable tilth when inducing super-critical failure
have been set out by Spoor (1975), who showed that the break-up of clods
formed during failure on the tension cut-off surface would depend on the rel-
ative balance of the strengths of the bulk soil and the individual clods formed
initially.
Classical soil-mechanics theory leads us to conclude that stress fields with
340

low values of p and high values of q are developed by sharply-raked shallow

cutting blades. Deep cutting blades with this geometry will have high values of
p because of the overburden lying above the cutting surface, and this condition
negates the principle just outlined. An excellent example of the recognition of
this effect and its alleviation was proposed by Godwin et al. (1984). Here a
shallow tine is placed immediately ahead of the path of a deeper one. The
leading shallow tine develops low values o f p by virtue of its location and the
soil it fails relieves the overburden pressure on the trailing tine, thus ensuring
a low value o f p for its failure-state path. This arrangement allows the soil to
be tilled satisfactorily to a greater depth than would otherwise be possible with
a single deep time.
It is possible to explain the effect recorded by Stafford (1979) and referred
to in the section on dynamic effects. The state path to failure in the quasi-
static case lies entirely within the super-critical domain because of the low
ambient p. However, at high loading rates the magnitude of p rises sharply,
taking the state path through the critical state wall into the sub-critical zone
and the soil now fails in a plastic manner.
The model developed also shows that the super-critical domain dominates
state space for dry soils, and hence tillage operations are more likely to cause
soil loosening when operating within this domain. The danger of cultivating in
very wet conditions is clearly demonstrated by considering the field soil to be
represented by the point marked X in Fig. 9b. When the soil is in the dry state
this point is in the super-critical domain, and for the wet or saturated condition
its relative position is now in the sub-critical domain and any cultural opera-
tions or wheelings will cause the state paths to traverse the Roscoe surface to
critical, thereby inducing compaction and puddling.
There are certain operations in which compaction of the soil is desirable.
Take for example the action of a Cambridge roller or press-wheel of a seed drill.
Such free-rolling implements apply mainly normal stresses without any shear
at the soil surface. Under these conditions the stresses within the soil are such
that p bears a fixed ratio to q. Now, if failure is induced in the sub-critical
domain the state path will traverse the Roscoe surface and will be unable to
reach a critical state. Thus the soil will compact without actual disturbance
and thus displacement of the drilled seeds. In operations designed to form sta-
ble mole channels it is desirable to compact the soil around the expander into
the channel surface without causing local failure. To achieve this, stress levels
must locate the state paths in the sub-critical domain. There is, however, a
conflict in requirements in that the soil above the channel is preferably loos-
ened or shattered. It may be possible to achieve this because the upper layers
of the soil may be dryer and are in any event at low ambient p.
The few examples cunsidered in this section illustrate the fact that critical-
state soil mechanics is a very powerful tool which explains analytically much
 341

of the observed behaviour of soils during tillage and traction. Several more
examples have been discussed in the paper by Hettiaratchi et al. (1980).

TE N SILE FAILURE

It will be appreciated from Fig. 5 that compressive stresses act on the entire
rupture boundary OABCD of a typical Sokolovski-type rupture surface. This
is also true of the boundary EOABCD shown in Fig. 7 for the non-singular
point solution which, with the exception of a small part of the active boundary
near the soil surface, is under compressive loads. Since these rupture blocks
are fairly typical of many tillage tools in current use, it may be concluded that
soil fhilure is the result of compressive loading of the rupture block. This action
is contrary to the trend predicted by the critical-state model, which requires
super-critical failure at low ambient values of p to ensure soil dilation. Now
since p = (~1 + a2 + a,~)/3 it follows that its lowest value will be realised when
all three principal stresses are negative (tension) but in reality they are all
compressive. This points to a fundamental flaw in the current design concepts
for tools for loosening soil. Furthermore, soil is very weak in tension and the
logical method of bringing it to failure would be to induce tensile failure.
One possible method of accomplishing this is illustrated in Fig. 7b. If the
translation of the machine element AA' is towards to soil surface then, because
of the concavity of the rupture boundaries, separation must occur along the
boundaries ABC and A ' B ' C ' . Thus, in this rupture block only the boundary
AA' is under compressive stress and very low values o f p can be developed. It
is also interesting to note that the concave rupture surface predicted by the
Sokolovski analysis and shown in Fig. 4d applies to sharply-raked cutting sur-
faces and this boundary has similar conditions. Practical experience tells us
that these tools are good at loosening soil. Additionally, because of the absence
of support from the uncut soil over a large part of the rupture surface, internal
tensile stresses are set up readily. A machine which utilises this principle has
been built and tested at Newcastle, and development is under way.
The soil-failure modes discussed so far treat the soil as a continuum, and the
break-up of this continuum into discrete blocks or clods has been assumed to
take place under super-critical conditions. The cracks appearing in the soil,
propagate in the phase leading up to critical and are caused by local shear
failure in thin bands within the continuum. However, in many practical situ-
ations crack initiation can be set off by the penetration of sharp tools. The
mechanics of this form of soil failure into discrete blocks owing to tensile fail-
ure induced by sharp curved cutting tools has been examined by Koolen (1972).

VIBRATORY SOIL CUTTING

The cutting forces generated by tillage tools are generally provided by the
tractive elements of the tractor. The possibility of transferring some or all of
342

v -6

/ 6

~.) (c)
Fig. 10. Vibratory Soil Cutting; (a) tool trajectory and force components; (b) influence of 5 on
size of rupture block; (c) kinematic considerations for reversed friction (-6) on cutting tool.
Note on velocities: u = forward; v = vibratory; w = soil block; s = tool relative to soil.

these forces away from the running gear is an attractive proposition. It is pos-
sible to achieve this by imparting an oscillatory motion to the cutting tool.
Early investigations of this effect were confined to experimental measure-
ments. Kofoed (1969) carried out a kinematic analysis and laid down the fun-
damental principles of vibratory soil cutting. This analysis showed that if the
cutting tool is moved in any direction other than the direction of motion of the
tractor then there is a component, T, of the cutting force, F, which is normal
to the direction of motion of the tractor (Fig. 10a). The force, T, cannot be
generated by the tractive elements of the tractor and hence must be provided
by the vibratory drive. Additionally, the periodic nature of the cutting force
can be reduced to a time average and this value is always less than either the
peak values or the static cutting force.
Work at Newcastle has identified two additional aspects of vibratory soil
cutting (Hettiaratchi, 1968b). Firstly, it should be possible, from soil-mechan-
ics considerations, to reduce the actual cutting force and, secondly, inertia forces
in the oscillating mechanism can be used to generate part of the soil-cutting
force. The latter expedient is a problem in dynamics and will not be considered
here.
The inclination of the lower boundary of the interface zone in the Sokolovski
failure block is a function of the mobilised angle of friction between the ma-
chine element and the soil (see Hettiaratchi et al., 1974). The soil cutting
action discussed so far, assumed that the soil failed as the tool moved up along
the machine element towards the soil surface. For this case the friction angle
was assumed to be positive and reached its maximum value at sliding. If the
friction was reversed as a result of the soil sliding down the tool then the in-
clination of the lower boundary of the rupture block alters as shown in Fig.
 343

10b. It will be noticed that the rupture block for negative 5 is much smaller,
and consequently the cutting force is correspondingly smaller. A vibratory soil-
cutting system is capable of exploiting this dramatic drop in cutting force by
arranging to cut the soil during an upward stroke of the vibrating tool. The
diagram in Fig. 10c outlines the kinematic considerations required to generate
a reversal of friction in a vibratory soil-cutting system. This analysis provides
the basis for determining the most favourable vibratory frequency and ampli-
tude, and the direction of the oscillating plane, relative to the forward or crowd
velocity of the cutting tool. It will be evident that any system which can optim-
ise all fbur draught reduction factors should end up with a vibratory soil cutting
tool having a very small crowd force. This can indeed be realised, but the prac-
tical difficulty of isolating the vibratory energy from the transporting vehicle
remains a formidable obstacle to the wider use of this form of low-draught soil
cutting.

PLANT ROOT GROWTH

No account of tillage-tool performance in relation to soil mechanics would

be complete without a brief look at plant roots, after all it is the root environ-
ment that is altered by these tools.
Roots of growing crops must displace and deform the soil as they proliferate
through a seedbed. The deformation imposed by root crops on the soil is evi-
dently much larger than those induced by, for example, cereals. In either event
there is a soil-mechanics problem involved. However, unlike the interaction of
inanimate objects like tillage tools, the interaction of living tissue with soil
requires a different approach.
An understanding of how plant roots penetrate compact soils has been ob-
tained by growing plants in idealised uniform media such as glass beads, and
then observing their growth response to controlled stresses applied to the
boundaries of the growing medium whilst all other growth sensitive factors are
maintained at a constant level. Experiments were carried out in Newcastle on
specially-adapted cylindrical triaxial cells (Abdalla et al., 1969) whilst at Let-
combe ( Russell and Goss, 1974) the samples were rectangular blocks. A sum-
mary of these findings on relative growth rates of roots is shown in Fig. 1 la,
and it will be seen that there is an upper cut-off confining stress beyond which
the root cannot elongate. The relationship of this stress in a given soil to the
root dimensions and the stress-deformation characteristics is an important
parameter in determining the minimum disturbance required for a particular
root to grow unimpeded. Some work on these lines has been described by Het-
tiaratchi and Ferguson (1973).
The Newcastle root-growth model is shown diagramatically in Fig. l l b and
the two key steps in this model are: (a) when the root is unable to extend
axially it polarises its growth in a radial direction, (b) the radial growth re-
344
1"01

,,._1 0.=

0 __.L__
0 2O 40 60 80 100 (b)
Pc k Po --.-
(G) t

Fig. 11. Influence of mechanical impedance on growth of roots. (a) Root-length attenuation
(L = length ratio relative to root at no confinement, Pc = confining stress at soil boundary ). (b)
Newcastle root-growth model. Growth steps from left to right.

lieves the stress in the root-cap zone and axial growth can resume. This model
raises many fascinating questions which require fundamental investigations
into the nature of plant-cell enlargement (see Hettiaratchi and O'Callaghan,
1974, 1978) but only the soil-mechanics aspects will be dealt with briefly.
The axial elongation of the root can be modelled from soil-mechanics theory
as a punch-indentation model which is based on a three-dimensional spherical
expansion taking place in the soil. On the other hand, the radial expansion is
a two-dimensional cylindrical expansion and Nguyen (1977) has demon-
strated that the peak stress in the former is always greater than the latter. This
explains why the root can continue to grow radially when its axial elongation
is arrested. However, at the critical-confining stress even radial growth can be
inhibited and the elongation of the root ceases. This simplified analysis shows
that soil-mechanics theory can provide a useful input to quantify the soil-de-
formation properties which control root growth. The various tillage-tool design
factors explored in the previous sections must be matched with these findings
to provide the complete picture. The crucial common factor for this link-up is
the mechanical behaviour of soils.

CONCLUSION

The review has dealt with some aspects of the advances made in understand-
ing the mechanical behaviour of agricultural soils and its impact on the anal-
ysis of soil-engaging elements of earth-working machines. Its relevance to
cultivation and compaction studies warrants a separate study on its own and
only brief mention has been made of it.
The numerical solution of the two-dimensional soil-failure problem by So-
kolovski has wide-ranging implications in the analytical treatment of soil cut-
ting forces and the prediction of soil-disturbance zones. The translation of this
elegant and complex mathematical analysis into a practical tool has removed
 345

many of the inconsistencies and limitations of earlier methods which are still
in regular use for the analysis of retaining structures.
The review has also shown that the critical-state model for soil failure is
capable of explaining a very wide range of observed soil-behaviour patterns in
soil-machine interactions. Unlike the Sokolovski solution it is still not a prac-
tical tool, but it highlights a fundamental misconception in implement design.
Failing soil in compression develops high draught forces and is inefficient in
the energy utilization per unit volume of soil disturbed. In this context, men-
tion must be made of the paraplow, which appears to take the tensile-failure
criterion some way towards a practical tool.
Soil-machine mechanics has established itself as a discipline in its own right
alongside its sister discipline of soil mechanics. The former subject is now taught
routinely in m a n y university courses in agricultural engineering, and there
have been several excellent text books covering the speciality. The pioneer
work on this was published by Gill and VandenBerg ( 1967 ), and this work has
set the style for more recent publications by Koolen and Kuipers (1983) and
by McKyes ( 1985 ). There are also several texts specialising in the field of soil-
vehicle mechanics and these have not been listed here.
Soil mechanics deals with a difficult engineering material which is subject
to complex loading systems and boundary conditions. These difficulties are
compounded in the soil-machine context. It is clear that significant progress
can be made not only as a result of a better theoretical understanding of the
problems, but also through improved empirical techniques which are intrinsic
to the entire activity of implement design and development.

NOTATION

Symbols not defined in the text are listed below

a adhesion in z = a + a t a n
c cohesion in z = c + a t a n ¢
g acceleration due to gravity
h e m b e d m e n t depth
p mean normal or spherical pressure or stress = aoct
q shear-stress invariant = 3root/X/2
V soil-specific volume
z cutting depth
a rake angle
), soil unit weight
~i machine element surface roughness angle in r = a + a tan
a normal stress
shear stress
0 angle of internal friction of soil in r = c + a tan 0
346

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