Topsoil Compaction Risk Based on the Different Responses of Soil Structure to Compaction Stress

Compaction leads to reduced crop yields, as the soil structure is destroyed. As soil structures respond differently to different degrees of compaction stress, early warnings for the risk of soil compaction caused by agricultural machinery need to be provided based on changes to the soil structure. I...

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Main Authors: Huiqing Zhang, Tingfeng He
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-12-01
Series:Agronomy
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/15/1/78
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author Huiqing Zhang
Tingfeng He
author_facet Huiqing Zhang
Tingfeng He
author_sort Huiqing Zhang
collection DOAJ
description Compaction leads to reduced crop yields, as the soil structure is destroyed. As soil structures respond differently to different degrees of compaction stress, early warnings for the risk of soil compaction caused by agricultural machinery need to be provided based on changes to the soil structure. In this study, we quantified the changes in the aeration porosity, aggregate mean weight diameter, structure coefficient, and cone index of different soil layers in response to compaction stress under different tyre axle weights (7.0 kN, 11.5 kN, 15.8 kN, and 20.4 kN) to analyse the risk of soil compaction in the topsoil layer (0–25 cm). The results showed that the compaction stresses that led to significant changes in soil structure in the 0–5 cm, 5–10 cm, 10–15 cm, and 15–20 cm soil layers were 130 kPa, 156 kPa, 111 kPa, and 103 kPa, respectively, and were significantly greater than the precompression stress of the soil in each layer. This finding proves that the changes in soil volume and structure caused by compaction are significant but not exactly equivalent; moreover, a threshold past which the stress caused by compaction results in soil structure failure still exists. Under 180 kPa of surface contact stress, the soil cone index, aeration porosity, aggregate mean weight diameters, and structure coefficient of the 0–5 cm and 5–10 cm soil layers gradually moved closer to the soil parameter levels of the subsoil layer before compaction. We suggest that the response of the soil structure to compaction stress proceeds along three stages, elastic deformation, plastic deformation without structure failure, and soil structure failure, within which soil structure failure stress and precompression stress are the two key threshold stresses. This study provides a more reliable theoretical basis upon which field managers can warn of soil compaction risk.
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spelling doaj-art-506be8ca90bd4347bad5ec5827f078b02025-01-24T13:16:38ZengMDPI AGAgronomy2073-43952024-12-011517810.3390/agronomy15010078Topsoil Compaction Risk Based on the Different Responses of Soil Structure to Compaction StressHuiqing Zhang0Tingfeng He1Faculty of Engineering Management, Shanxi Vocational University of Engineering Science and Technology, Taiyuan 030000, ChinaCollege of Engineering, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210031, ChinaCompaction leads to reduced crop yields, as the soil structure is destroyed. As soil structures respond differently to different degrees of compaction stress, early warnings for the risk of soil compaction caused by agricultural machinery need to be provided based on changes to the soil structure. In this study, we quantified the changes in the aeration porosity, aggregate mean weight diameter, structure coefficient, and cone index of different soil layers in response to compaction stress under different tyre axle weights (7.0 kN, 11.5 kN, 15.8 kN, and 20.4 kN) to analyse the risk of soil compaction in the topsoil layer (0–25 cm). The results showed that the compaction stresses that led to significant changes in soil structure in the 0–5 cm, 5–10 cm, 10–15 cm, and 15–20 cm soil layers were 130 kPa, 156 kPa, 111 kPa, and 103 kPa, respectively, and were significantly greater than the precompression stress of the soil in each layer. This finding proves that the changes in soil volume and structure caused by compaction are significant but not exactly equivalent; moreover, a threshold past which the stress caused by compaction results in soil structure failure still exists. Under 180 kPa of surface contact stress, the soil cone index, aeration porosity, aggregate mean weight diameters, and structure coefficient of the 0–5 cm and 5–10 cm soil layers gradually moved closer to the soil parameter levels of the subsoil layer before compaction. We suggest that the response of the soil structure to compaction stress proceeds along three stages, elastic deformation, plastic deformation without structure failure, and soil structure failure, within which soil structure failure stress and precompression stress are the two key threshold stresses. This study provides a more reliable theoretical basis upon which field managers can warn of soil compaction risk.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/15/1/78soil compactioncompaction stressprecompression stresssoil structurecone index
spellingShingle Huiqing Zhang
Tingfeng He
Topsoil Compaction Risk Based on the Different Responses of Soil Structure to Compaction Stress
Agronomy
soil compaction
compaction stress
precompression stress
soil structure
cone index
title Topsoil Compaction Risk Based on the Different Responses of Soil Structure to Compaction Stress
title_full Topsoil Compaction Risk Based on the Different Responses of Soil Structure to Compaction Stress
title_fullStr Topsoil Compaction Risk Based on the Different Responses of Soil Structure to Compaction Stress
title_full_unstemmed Topsoil Compaction Risk Based on the Different Responses of Soil Structure to Compaction Stress
title_short Topsoil Compaction Risk Based on the Different Responses of Soil Structure to Compaction Stress
title_sort topsoil compaction risk based on the different responses of soil structure to compaction stress
topic soil compaction
compaction stress
precompression stress
soil structure
cone index
url https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/15/1/78
work_keys_str_mv AT huiqingzhang topsoilcompactionriskbasedonthedifferentresponsesofsoilstructuretocompactionstress
AT tingfenghe topsoilcompactionriskbasedonthedifferentresponsesofsoilstructuretocompactionstress