Co-Authors:
Snyder, V.A., Agricultural Experimentation Station, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico
Vazquez, M.A., Agricultural Experimentation Station, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico
Martinez, G., Agricultural Experimentation Station, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico
Ramirez, L., Agricultural Experimentation Station, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico
Hadas, A., Agricultural Experimentation Station, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico
Abstract:
A new procedure provides the necessary fracture conditions and gives a direct measure of the amount of soil fragmentation under any desired compression/shear ratio. Forces, displacements, and energy expenditures during the soil fragmentation process can be measured. Friability indices were measured with the technique on a set of soil cores sampled in the field at different soil water matric pressures. The matric pressures at which these indices indicated maximum soil friability agreed well with that determined by tillage of the same soil.