Crop harvesting has been pointed as the main source of soil compaction in sugarcane fields because of the high stresses induced by the machinery; however, little is known about the magnitude of the stress transmitted to the soil by these machines in the compaction process. The aim of this study was to use numerical simulations to analyse the impact of vehicles used in mechanised sugarcane harvesting on soil stress and soil compaction response. For that, numerical simulations were performed for a set of machines and tyre configurations used to harvest sugarcane: tractor, truck and trailer. The model was formulated as a 2D plane strain problem, meshed for a soil domain 9.0 m in width and 4.0 m in depth, while using the Modified Cam Clay model as the constitutive relationship. Up to 1 m depth, the domain was layered every 0.20 m using measured soil mechanical properties. Effective vertical stress, precompression stress and soil total porosity were analysed in response to the applied stress by the harvest machines. The truck and the trailer applied stresses to the soil surface that reached 800 kPa, while the stresses applied by the tractor did not exceed 300 kPa. Numerical simulations showed that the truck and the trailer can transmit stresses higher than precompression stress that exceeds 1.00 m depth, causing a reduction in the soil total porosity and hence subsoil compaction. These stresses can extend to the planting row by stress bulbs overlapping at around 0.60 m, and could cause soil damage in case of greater stress than precompresion stress. Finally, the simulations revealed variability in soil compaction as dependent on the magnitude of the transmitted stress, as well as due to heterogeneity of mechanical properties along the soil profile. The simulations indicate the relevance of detailing the compressive properties of arable soils rather than considering the soil profile as homogeneous.

由于机械设备引起的高压力，农作物收成被认为是甘蔗田土壤压实的主要来源。然而，对于这些机器在压实过程中传递给土壤的应力大小知之甚少。这项研究的目的是使用数值模拟来分析用于机械化甘蔗收获的车辆对土壤压力和土壤压实响应的影响。为此，对用于收获甘蔗的一组机器和轮胎配置进行了数值模拟：拖拉机，卡车和拖车。该模型被公式化为二维平面应变问题，在宽度为9.0 m，深度为4.0 m的土壤域中进行网格划分，同时使用改良的Cam Clay模型作为本构关系。直到1 m的深度，磁畴每0分层一次。使用测得的土壤机械性能20 m。根据收割机施加的应力，分析了有效的垂直应力，预压缩应力和土壤总孔隙度。卡车和拖车对土壤表面施加的应力达到800 kPa，而拖拉机施加的应力不超过300 kPa。数值模拟表明，卡车和拖车所传递的应力高于深度超过1.00 m的预压缩应力，从而降低了土壤的总孔隙度，从而降低了土壤的密实度。这些应力可以通过在0.60 m处重叠的应力球扩展到种植行，并且在应力大于预压应力的情况下可能造成土壤破坏。最后，模拟结果表明，土壤压实度的变化取决于传递应力的大小，以及由于沿土壤剖面的机械特性的异质性。模拟表明，详细描述可耕土壤的压缩特性而不是将土壤剖面视为均匀是有意义的。