Effect of vibration treatment on increasing the durability of tillage equipment working bodies

Abstract

This paper reports a study into the durability of tillage equipment working bodies. It has been established that the quality of surface layers during plastic deformation depends on a series of factors. These factors include the degree of hardening, the thickness of the hardened layer, the size and nature of the distribution of residual stresses. The study has shown that the technology to restore working bodies that involves vibration oscillations provides for higher durability. Investigation of deformed samples demonstrates that when exposed to vibration treatment, the microstructure is more fine-grained and even; the hardness of the treated surface of a ploughshare blade increases by 22‒35 %. This contributes to hardening the machined surface. It has been established that the tillage equipment working body wear is a random process, which is predetermined by changes in the structural dimensions and shape of cutting elements. An analysis of the wear distribution density of cutting elements has revealed its compliance with the law of normal distribution. It should be noted that the most influential geometric parameter of a working body affecting the part’s resource is the wear depth. This parameter determines the residual thickness of the ploughshare wall. Data from surface-layer studies at hardening make it possible to note a decrease in the limiting state of the examined parameters. In particular, the wear of a ploughshare tip was 17 % less than the limiting state. The study of durability has shown that the amount of tillage equipment working body wear is 1.28 times less when using vibrational plastic deformation. Accordingly, when restoring ploughshares, in order to increase the working bodies’ resource, it is more expedient to use a method that implies the welding of tires made from steel 45 involving sormite surfacing and vibration treatment