Abstract
Soil cutting is usually related to high energy consumption. Currently, much attention has been paid in optimizing the geometries of soil-engaging tools for improving cutting efficiency, however, with little research efforts concentrate on the aspect of the variation in soil failure characteristics for achieving a soil force reduction result. In this study, the effect of multi-claw combination of Scaptochirus moschatus (Mammalia, Soricomorpha, Talpidae) on draught force and soil failure characteristics was investigated in the soil bin. Three soil-cutting models, including a conventional model (C-model), a clawless blade model with a curved contour edge (BE-model) and a blade with multiple claws (BT-model), were designed according to the geometric characteristics of multi-claw combination and moved horizontally in soil. Draught force, its average value (\(\overline{F}\)) and fluctuation frequency (f), and soil rupture distance (r) of three models were measured and calculated at the rake angle from 10º to 90º. Results showed that the multi-claw combination had a great effect on the draught force and soil failure characteristics. The \(\overline{F}\), f, and r of BT-model were about 13.62% lower, 1.60 times higher, and 19.57% smaller than those of BE-model, respectively, which resulted in a smaller soil failure wedge to agree with the lower draught force of BT-model. And, the \(\overline{F}\) of BE-model were about 22.43% smaller than those of C-model; however, f, r, and soil failure wedge of BE-model were similar to those of C-model. It indicated that the curved contour edge of BE-model could not change the soil failure characteristics, whereas the multi-claw combination of BT-model could fundamentally change the soil failure characteristics, thus require a minimal force to cut soil. This study has unraveled the important roles of the multi-claw combination in determining the high soil-cutting efficiency of Scaptochirus moschatus, which will encourage the development of efficient soil-engaging tools potentially for engineering applications.
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