Design and Experimental Study of the Spiral Auxiliary Feeding Device for Lodged Corn on Combine Harvester

Abstract

Highlights This study designed an auxiliary feeding device for lodged corn on the combine harvester. The mechanical characteristics of lodged corn stalk were studied as the bases of mechinery design. The working parameters were optimized in the orthogonal experiment. Abstract. Lodging causes a lot of kernels and ears loss in corn‘s mechanical harvest, and threatens grain security seriously. To address this issue, the bending mechanical properties and lifting forces of lodged corn stalks are explored. It is confirmed that the ear on lodged corn could be lifted up to the normal mechanical-harvesting height by applying upward force to the stalk. Based on the above conclusions, a spiral auxiliary feeding device for lodged corn on combine harvester is designed. The orthogonal optimization experiment is conducted to explore the effect of working parameters on the developed device performance. The results demonstrate that the sequence for the factors on the kernel loss of the auxiliary feeding device is: harvesting direction, forward speed of the combine harvester, and rotating speed of the spiral stalk lifter. The optimal combination for the combine harvester forward speed and the rotating speed of the spiral stalk lifter is 0.5 m/s and 300 r/min, with the ratio of the peripheral speed to the speed of motion is 9.42. The optimal harvesting direction is opposite to the lodging direction of the stalk. This study is believed to provide theoretical basis and design reference for low-loss harvesting of lodged corn.