ABSTRACT
One good engineering practice is to represent full-scale objects with models. This technique is valid for material models and for mathematical simulations. For example, experiments can be done with monolith soil samples rather than in actual wheel-soil conditions. Soil monoliths can measure up to 1 × 0.6 × 0.6 m-much larger than practical for most soil samples. The main advantage of soil monoliths is that the volume is large enough for conducting loading tests without any boundary effects. And, of course, the tests can be performed under controlled laboratory conditions.
