Sommerfeld effect in a vibrocompaction process

Abstract

This study addresses the influence of the Sommerfeld effect on the behaviour of vibrocompacting machines driven by unbalanced electric motors. Based on a simplified model with 4 degrees of freedom previously published by the authors, we investigate the dynamics of quasistatic vibrocompaction processes, i.e. those in which the compaction is achieved through a sufficiently slow increase in the input power of the electric motors. The main novel contribution of the paper is the characterization of the evolution of the system state through a quasistatic torque curve, which is analytically derived. This curve provides the maximum compaction that can be quasistatically achieved and the amount of motor torque required to reach a desired compaction level, while also revealing the specific way in which the Sommerfeld effect takes place in the system under study. The analytical results are used to give a clear physical interpretation to the numerical results previously published by the authors. Good agreement is found between numerical and analytical results.