Fine roots (FR) play a major role in the water and nutrient uptake of plants and contribute significantly to the carbon and nutrient cycles of ecosystems through their annual production and turnover. FR growth dynamics were studied to understand the endogenous and exogenous factors driving these processes in a 14-year-old plantation of rubber trees located in eastern Thailand. FR dynamics were ...

Test rolling is a quality assessment technique performed on road construction materials to verify consistency prior to paving. In this test, the depth to which the wheels of a heavy vehicle penetrate the material is used as a measure of quality. Current test rolling specifications are based largely on empirical data. In this paper, theoretical models are presented for the case of a test roller ...

Abrasion susceptibility of highway pavements has a great impact on the skid resistance, and consequently accident rate. A rotational abrasion device is introduced, providing the advantage of field simulation of wheel passage, in comparison with existing standard methods. The device was used to measure abrasion susceptibility of concrete pavements with different textures. The obtained results we...

The classical shimmying wheel is the simplest mechanical model to describe vibration problems in the rolling dynamics of aircraft nose gears, motorcycles , automotive systems and tractor-trailer systems. Such systems can exhibit undesirable unstable rolling motion which can often lead to disastrous results. The classical shimmy model includes a rigid wheel towed by a horizontal caster attached ...

Analysis of stress distributions under lightweight wheeled vehicles Report Title In recent years, the need for reliable modeling tools for lightweight robotic systems deployed on various terrains has spurred research efforts into development of vehicle terrain interaction (VTI) models. This paper presents an analysis of rigid wheels dry sand interaction and compares experimental results with pr...

Fatigue life prediction and evaluation are the key technologies to assure the safety and reliability of automotive rubber components. The objective of this study is to develop the fatigue analysis process for vulcanized rubber components, which is applicable to predict fatigue life at initial product design step. Fatigue life prediction methodology of vulcanized natural rubber was proposed by i...

In this investigation, experiments were carried out to understand the influence of various grinding parameters like wheel speed, workspeed and depth of cut on the grinding temperature at the surface of the Al-SiCP composite workpiece with different grinding wheels. The temperature distribution within the workpiece was studied by simulating the grinding process and using finite element analysis ...

This study investigates the hydrologic implications of land use conversion from native vegetation to rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) in Southeast Asia. The experimental catchment, Nam Ken (69 km2), is located in Xishuangbanna Prefecture (22°N, 101 °E), in the south of Yunnan province, in southwestern China. During 2005 and 2006, we collected hourly records of 2 m deep soil moisture profiles in rubb...

The asphalt industry is increasingly developing with greater focus on sustainability. This study focuses the benefits of a binder modification stone mastic (SMA) by adding rubber—ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM)—into class 320 bitumen. observes advantages that occur for rutting and fatigue performance samples. was made incorporating 0, 2, 4 6% weight into each sample. tests performed sam...