An Analysis of Soil Failure by a Subsoiler with Pressurized Fluid Injection (Part 1)

A Nonlinear Three-Dimensional Finite Element Analysis of Subsoiler Cutting

Abstract

There are two design objectives for subsoilers with pressurized fluid injection for use as pan-breaker or injector; a large soil failure rate is desirable when it is used as a pan-breaker and little failure is advantageous when it is used as an injector. This report analyzed the relation between soil failure rates and the shapes of shanks and chisels without fluid injection by a finite element method (FEM).
The result showed that rake angle gave a considerable effect on rupture distances. When the rake angle was small, 45-60°, plastic yield zone and tensile stress zone expanded, and there was considerable soil deformation and disturbance. Consequently, a design principle determined by soil bin test, where the optimum pan-breaker should have a rake angle of 45-60° and the optimum injector should have a rake angle of 90°, was theoretically reasonable.