Abstract
In order to apply the connected theory of finite element method (FEM) and theory of soil rheology, which was described in our papers No. 1 and No. 2 of this series, to a practical problem, a static sinkage of rigid wheel was taken up in this report.
Representing the soil as a three element model, which has constants E, E1 and η1, it was found from the test for a natural sandy loam that these constants decreased when the moisture content of soil increased and they increased with the density.
A FEM program was created to simulate a time-dependent static sinkage of rigid wheel, assuming that a creep phenomenon is found under a constant stress state in a short time interval. A load distribution from the wheel to the soil was always corrected to satisfy the condition of the contact between the wheel and nodes of soil surface.
The calculated values of sinkage by this program coincided very well with measured ones and it would mean the possibility of an application of FEM to rheological interactions between wheels and soils.
