Effects of a roller and a tracked vehicle on the compaction of a high lifted decomposed granite sandy soil

The aim of this research was to innovate a new compaction machinery by comparing experimentally the effects of a two-axle, two wheel road roller and a tracked vehicle on the compaction of a decomposed granite sandy soil with a high spreading lift. By measuring the amount of sinkage of the terrain surface, the dry density distribution versus depth using a cone penetrometer, the normal earth pressure distribution versus depth using a stress state transducer (SST), the effects of the road roller and the tracked vehicle on the increment of the soil dry density were considered theoretically. It was observed that the tracked vehicle showed a larger amount of sinkage and a larger dry density distribution versus depth than the roller. The ratio of shear stress to normal stress was still large enough at the deep stratum, so that an optimal shear strain was developed on the whole range of the high lifted stratum and it increased the soil compaction density due to the dilatancy effect. (C) 1998 ISTVS. All rights reserved.