EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL RESEARCH ON BULLDOZER WORKING PROCESS

A simulative analysis coupled with experiment on behaviors of a soil bed cut by a model bulldozer blade is carried out using the finite element/distinct element method(FE/DEM) facility built in the ELFEN package. Before simulation, the soil specimens are examined through uniaxial tensile/compression, triaxial compression and direct shear tests to obtain model characteristics and relevant parameters, then soil cutting experiments are carried out via a mini-soil bin system with a soil bed of 60/120 mm in width and 10 mm in depth cut by a 1/9 scale model bulldozer blade moving with the velocity of 10 mm/s. The soil constitutive model includes the tensile elastic model for tensile breakage and the compressive elastoplastic relationship with Mohr-Coulomb criterion. The cutting length in simulation is set as 1/4 of that in the experiment divided into 1 869 triangular elements. The comparison between the simulated results and experimental ones shows that the used model is capable of analyzing soil dynamic behaviors qualitatively, and the predicted fracturing profiles in general conform to the experiment. Hence the feasibility for analyzing soil fracturing behaviors in tillage or other similar processes is validated.