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Effect of Particle Surface Roughness on Densification of Coarse-Textured Soil¹

ABSTRACT

It has been observed that soils on the Atlantic Coastal Plain compact to different bulk densities under the same compactive effort. It is hypothesized that densification differences observed among Ap horizon materials of these soils are partially due to variations in soil particle surface roughness. Surface roughness of Coastal Plain soil materials and sand size fractions derived from these materials were photographed and/or characterized by measuring the dense soil angle of response (DSAR) over a range of bulk densities. Altering the particle size distribution of a given material did not significantly influence the DSAR vs. D^b (soil bulk density) relationship; the slopes and intercepts of these linear plots were not statistically different. However, plots of DSAR vs. D_b for materials with different particle surface roughness had similar slopes, but different intercepts. It is proposed that the intercept of the DSAR vs. D_b curve, or the value of DSAR at a given D_b, be used to characterize soil particle roughness for coarse-textured materials.

It was further hypothesized that the DSAR at a given D_b was directly related to particle packing arrangement stability, or resistance to further densification, of the soil material. To test this hypothesis, different levels of vibrational energy were applied to materials with different particle roughness but similar particle size distributions. Soil materials with the smoothest particles, i.e., those with the lowest DSAR at each D_b, consistently produced the highest D_b at each vibrational energy level.

¹ Contribution from the Dep. of Soil Science, North Carolina State Univ. Paper no. 6164 of the Journal Series of the North Carolina Agric. Res. Service. Raleigh, NC 27650.

² Assistant Professor, Professor, and Research Technician, respectively, Dep. of Soil Science, North Carolina State Univ. Raleigh, NC 27650. The senior author's present address is Dep. of Agronomy, Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA 50011.

Received for publication October 9, 1979. Accepted for publication March 4, 1980.