Many results of pressure - sinkage investigations with various test bodies in yielding soils have been published. Most of the tests have, however, been carried out with relatively small elements, at low pressures and with small sinkages, in pure sand or clay. A comparison of the published results often shows contradictory statements. In the two soil bins of the Institute for Automotive Engineering at the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Hamburg, tests have been performed in order to systematically investigate the influence of shape and size of the penetrating body on the pressure - sinkage relationship and on the derived soil parameters. It was important to use contact areas, soil pressures and sinkages as they approximately occur with vehicles in the field. Test elements with an area up to 900 cm~2 were used. They comprised circular plates as well as rectangular ones with different aspect ratios. Also cones with an area up to 450 cm were employed. According to plate size and soil, the maximum pressures amounted up to 20 bars. The measurements were usually made down to a sinkage of 40 cm. The tests were carried out in three different soils (sand, loam, and clay) at different moisture contents.
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