A Decision Support System for Design of Transmission System of Low Power Tractors

Abstract

ABSTRACTA decision support system (DSS) was developed in Visual Basic 6.0 programming language to design transmission system of low horsepower agricultural tractors, which involved the design of clutch and gearbox. The DSS provided graphical user interface by linking databases to support decision on design of transmission system for low horsepower tractors on the basis of modified ASABE draft model. The developed program for design of tractor transmission system calculated clutch size, gear ratios, number of teeth on each gear, and various gear design parameters. Related deviation was computed for design of transmission system of tractors based on measured and predicted values (simulated). The related deviation was less than 7% for design of clutch plate outer diameter and less than 3% for inner diameter. There was less than 1% variation between the predicted results by the developed DSS and those obtained from actual measurement for design of gear ratio. The DSS program was user friendly and efficient for predicting the design of transmission system for different tractor models to meet requirements of research institutions and industry. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput. Appl. Eng. Educ. Comput Appl Eng Educ 23:760–770, 2015; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cae; DOI 10.1002/cae.21648