An optimized bionic electro-osmotic soil-engaging implement for soil adhesion reduction

Abstract

Today, the development of high-efficiency tillage implements which can meet the requirements of modern agriculture in energy consumption is a matter of great importance. Therefore, using bionic electro-osmosis technology inspired from the body surface of soil burrowing animals in design and construction of soil-engaging tillage implements for soil adhesion reduction has gathered the attention of researchers in the last two decades. In this study, a soil-engaging plate with optimized operational parameters is introduced. Experimental results showed that reduction of soil adhesion was the most for the plate with 1/4 positive/negative electrode area ratio, and applying 24 V for 30 s to the electrodes. Results also revealed that by using bionic electro-osmosis technology, plates’ soil adhesion reduced by 29.8% to 90% compared with conventional plates. Results of this study can be used for the design and development of high-efficiency soil-engaging implements for power-consuming agricultural field operations.