Category: Soil mechanics

Disintegration and stability of soils related to dredging

Graduation Fabian Kruis: Modelling Friction In Clay

Fabian Kruis presenting his graduation research
Fabian Kruis presenting his graduation research

Fabian Kruis graduated on his master thesis at the Delft University of Technology on a project for my PhD research1. He investigated the cutting behaviour of plastic clay. As it was the first time we are now actually using the test rig designed by Ines2, he first had to do was a lot of trouble shooting for commissioning the test rig. Spoiler alert: the cutting forces were much higher than expected and the linear drive was not strong enough to cover the whole range of experiments we’ve wanted to do.

Clay cutting test rig at DDE in Nijkerk
Clay cutting test rig at DDE in Nijkerk

The cutting forces involved with cutting of clay are acting on all four sides of the simplified chip. On the outside, there is the barometric pressure of the surrounding water. On the far end, there is an unknown and hard to determine force from the rest of the chip that is not in contact with the blade anymore. At the shear plane, there are the normal force, the internal friction and the cohesion. At the blade, there are the normal force, the external friction force and the adhesion. The sum of these last three forces will give the cutting force we are looking for, as they make up the required cutting power on the drive. But they can only be calculated, once the other forces are known.

Overview of all the forces involved with the cutting of clay, acting on the chip
Overview of all the forces involved with the cutting of clay, acting on the chip

Fabian’s assignment was to have our own experience with the cutting of clay and check whether the models used in the dredging industry have any reliability in predicting the cutting forces. checking whether all assumptions and simplifications were justified. e.g. Plastic clay does have similar properties and behaviour as a fluid. And a fluid does not have an internal friction. Consequently, clay should not have an internal friction also. Right? When there is no internal friction, there can’t be an external friction either. Right, right? Fabian tested these assumptions by actually performing shear tests on internal and external planes.3

Explanation of internal friction for solids, fluids and clay
Explanation of internal friction for solids, fluids and clay

At least for the clay we used in this research, he already found that the assumption for ‘no friction in clay’ is not valid. Consequently, this had knock on effects on the rest of the cutting force calculation. We did find a different behaviour, the shear plane was off and the cutting forces were indeed much higher than expected. It is now up to me to use Fabians results and model modifications to implement into my own research. As a matter of fact, I used part of his thesis to write an article and hope to present this soon. I’ll keep you update on those developments.
As we are very satisfied with Fabian’s work and him as a person himself, we offered him a position in our team at Damen Dredging Equipment in Nijkerk, which he happily accepted. So, next to progress for my research, we have a new colleague. Welcome Fabian, thank you!

Fabian signing his MSc. certificate.
Fabian signing his MSc. certificate sitting in the ‘dredging chair

References

  1. Personal Announcement: Going Back To School To Cut Some Clay, Discover Dredging
  2. Graduation of Ines Ben M’hamed: The Strength of Clay in a Test Rig, Discover Dredging
  3. Direct shear test, Wikipedia

See also

CEDA Dredging Days 2024: My Presentation On Clay Cutting

Initial clay cutting tests for my PhD project CHiPS
Initial clay cutting tests for my PhD project CHiPS

Next week is the biannual CEDA Dredging Days event1. This time fully focused on presentations, networking and having a good time together with like minded people. Since a long time, it will not be in conjunction with the distractions of the Europort exhibition. Instead, it will be in the impressive WTC Rotterdam. This is an excellent opportunity to share with you the progress of my PhD project on clay cutting at the TU Delft2. As a teaser, I would like to share with you some observations from my literature study, already3. Starting to search for literature via Google results in this:

Literature on clay (Kushim, 3400BC)4
Literature on clay (Kushim, 3400BC)4

When estimating the cutting production of a dredge, the objective is to find the specific cutting energy for that dredge in combination with the soil properties and correctly chosen operational settings. The specific cutting energy is the amount of power needed to excavate a volume of soil from the bottom5. The funny thing is, when you work out the dimensions of the specific cutting energy, the unit is similar to a stress or pressure. So, there should be a direct relation between the specific cutting energy and a soil property. But which one? For cohesive soils as clay, there are: shear strength, cohesion, adhesion, tensile strength, yield strength. The VOUB course6 recommends to use an empirically derived relation between the cohesion and the deformation rate (which in turn is based on the operating settings) for the specific cutting energy.

Specific Cutting Energy Empirical (Bart van der Schrieck, 1996)
Specific Cutting Energy Empirical (Bart van der Schrieck, 1996)

In contrast to this empirical model, one could also start at the displacements of the clay particles and model the implications for the larger continuum mathematically. This has been investigated by Sape Miedema, who has published countless articles and an impressive book on the topic7. Following this through, the estimated specific cutting energy is in the same range as the empirical model. However, on closer inspection, there are some variations on the outer limits of the deformation rate.

Specific Cutting Energy Theoretical (Sape Miedema, 1992)
Specific Cutting Energy Theoretical (Sape Miedema, 1992)

This discrepancy is probably due applying the model under all conditions. Miedema already recommends to check for the validity of the assumptions in the model. At very thin cutting layers, the resulting chip may form a long curl. When cutting thick layers, the blade will cut out chunks. And those cutting types will have different force equilibriums, resulting in different cutting forces. Miedema suggested a three regime map of cutting types, which coincidently resembles the curves found empirically.

Cutting types (Sape Miedema, 1992)
Cutting types (Sape Miedema, 1992)

It appears, there are many more cutting types possible for a myriad of soil properties and operating conditions. However, the published results and proposed models are not directly applicable for the dredging industry. Either the conditions or assumptions differ (dry earth works for example) or parameters or data has been failed to included in the publication. This leads to some white spots in the knowledge that I hope to colour in with my future models and upcoming experiments8.

Clay cutting test rig at DDE in Nijkerk
Clay cutting test rig at DDE in Nijkerk

References

  1. Welcome to CEDA’s (revamped) Dredging Days 2024
  2. Personal Announcement: Going Back To School To Cut Some Clay
  3. CEDA Announcement of my presentation, LinkedIn
  4. What was the first (known) maths mistake? Matt Parker
  5. Experiencing The Cutting Edge Of Dredging Technology
  6. VOUB Cursus 1998, Deel X, hoofdstuk 12, VBKO
  7. The Delft Sand, Clay & Rock Cutting Model, Sape Miedema
  8. Mechanical excavation of clayey soils, a review of the physical phenomena occurring, Mark Winkelman et al (CEDA Dredging Days 2024)

See also

Working Group ‘Sand’ Visits Damen: Perspectives On Sand From Micro to Macro Scale

Working Group ‘Sand’ visiting the Dredging Experience at Damen Dredging Equipment
Working Group ‘Sand’ visiting the Dredging Experience at Damen Dredging Equipment

You may already know, that I am very interested in this miniscule particle that is the foundation of our business. To learn more about this element, I joint the Working Group ‘Sand’ of the Dutch Association for Geological Activities1. It is a colourful group of enthusiasts that collect, photograph and research sand in all its splendour. During the relaxed Saturday afternoon meetings, the members gradually noticed, I had a slightly different, professional interest in sand. They boldly asked if they could visit our company for their annual excursion. Maybe my presentation, by at least the excellent weather made for a very successful event.

Measuring the grain density of sand
Measuring the grain density of sand

One aspect of the sand grains we wanted to measure was the buoyancy of the particles. This is done by measuring the density of the grains. You have a tube of water with a known volume. You add sand with a known mass. And just as Archimedes2 predicted, the water will rise with the displaced volume of the grains. Dividing the mass by the displaced volume yields the density of the grains. Surprisingly, this method is quite accurate. For a static condition this is perfectly satisfying. However, in most dredging situations, the grains are dynamically jostled around in slurry transport or breaking up sediment at the cutter.

Effective grain density due to adherent fluid
Effective grain density due to adherent fluid

When a solid grain is moving through a fluid, it is usually considered as a perfect sphere. Nothing is perfect in nature and grains do have a range of shapes, that at best are similar to potato’s. A very jagged grain will have lot’s of nooks and crannies filled with the fluid. This fluid is moving with the particle and contributes to the mass and volume of the particle. This adherent fluid is much more reliably assumed to be a sphere. Fluids in a zero gravity situation tends to behave like a sphere. The diameter of the sphere can be taken as the maximum diameter of the grain that can be measured.

Measuring the effective volume of sand grains
Measuring the effective volume of sand grains

Through a microscope, you will only be able to see the lateral area or the cross-section of a grain. Both area and volume have a relation to diameter. So, the measured area is reduced to an equivalent round area with an equivalent diameter and consequently an equivalent volume. The volumes and masses of that equivalent volume of sand and the shell of adherent water will yield an apparent density of the moving particle.

Effect of apparent density on dredge performance
Effect of apparent density on dredge performance

In the end, my objective was to learn through the microscope the effect the shape of the sand had on the performance of our dredges. As seen in a calculation in our production estimating program, the effect can be significant. Certainly an influence we want to know and assist our customer with appropriate advise3. My visits to the meetings of the Working Group ‘Sand’ were a real benefit in understanding sand. But, to my surprise, through the working group I also learned to appreciate the beauty of the all the different sand minerals that can be found.

Picture of various sand grains in an interesting mixed sample
Picture of various sand grains in an interesting mixed sample

References

  1. Werkgroep Zand, Stichting GEA
  2. Archimedes, Wikipedia
  3. In house R&D Department, Damen Dredging Equipment

See also

Digital Microscopes, Dino-Lite