Simulation of soil forces on an aerway shatter tine using discrete element method

Soil disturbances from an AerWay shatter tine was modeled using a commercial software called PFC 3D (Particle Flow Code in Three Dimensions) based on the discrete element method (DEM). The objective of this study was to generate a soil-tool model, calibrate and validate the model with field and literature data, and generate predictions on the required draft and vertical forces to pull the shatter tine. The DEM model predicted and validated the required draft and vertical forces of the shatter tine at various depths. These predictions are based on the kinematics of the assembly according to Newton's laws of motion. The calibrated soil had a relative error of 7.7% for a silty-clay soil using the ball stiffness (k n /k s ) of 1 x 10 4 N/m and bond stiffness (! ! /! ! ) of 1 x 10 3 Pa/m. The simulated results were compared to literature data and had a relative error of 13.4- 31.2% within the depth range of 100-150 mm and lower depths were found to have a smaller relative error. The predicted vertical force was found to linearly increase with depth until the force plateau at around 700 N per shatter tine. The described methodology was validated and showed a good correlation between the draft forces from literature and the DEM simulations. The correlation suggests that DEM modeling is a very promising method to simulate highly variable soil properties, nonlinear dynamic behaviour of soil, and complex phenomena between the soil and tool surfaces.