Abstract
In this study a comparative finite element analysis was conducted to investigate the effects of tillage tool geometry on soil disturbance and reaction forces. A nonlinear three dimensional finite element model, using ANSYS software, was developed to study the soil cutting process by trapezoidal (T<sub>1</sub>) and rectangular (T<sub>2</sub>) flat tools that inclined to the horizontal at three rake angles (R<sub>1</sub> = 30°, R<sub>2</sub> = 60° and R<sub>3</sub> = 90°), therefore a total of six treatments were considered in this analysis. The soil media was assumed as elastic-perfectly plastic material with Drucker- Prager’s model. Results of this study revealed that the maximum vertical soil displaced by T<sub>1</sub> is greater than that of T<sub>2</sub>; hence T<sub>1</sub> disturbed the soil better than T<sub>2</sub>. Results also showed that a significant reduction in draft force was noticed when cutting the soil with T<sub>1</sub> in comparison to T<sub>2</sub>. Designing the tool in the form of T<sub>1</sub> significantly reduces the surface area of the tool; thus conserving the engineering material.
Highlights
Tillage is the practice of modifying the state of the soil to achieve favorable conditions to crop growth
The other aim of the present study is to investigate the effects of tool geometry on the soil disturbance and reaction forces
The soil reaction forces on the tools were calculated from the summation of the nodal forces on the soil-tool interface elements in the horizontal direction
Summary
Tillage is the practice of modifying the state of the soil to achieve favorable conditions to crop growth. It is the most costly farm operation, because of the large amount of energy requirement during soil manipulation. A remarkable saving of that high amount of energy can be attained through optimized design and development of tillage tools (Gill and Vandenberg, 1968). These tools have for a long time been designed on trial and error basis as the soil-tool interactions involved have not been delineated and quantified (Makanga et al, 1996). The draft force of any tillage tool mainly depends upon the soil properties, tool geometry, working depth, travel speed and width of the tool (Glancey et al, 1996)
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