Prospects for the development of undercarriage systems of modern mobile energy devices for agricultural purposes

Abstract

The final stage of the cultivation of crops is harvesting. The quality of the operation depends on the annual result of the effectiveness of all previous work. It is important not only to harvest well, but to preserve the fertility of the soil and avoid soil compaction. The problem of compression is becoming more acute due to the massive use of heavy wheeled tractors and combines. The degree of soil compaction depends on the type of propulsion unit, the weight of the tractor and the number of passes of the units across the field. The negative impact of undercarriage systems on the soil should be considered when creating new machines based on new layout schemes, to reduce the structural weight, taking into account the dynamics and distribution of the center of mass of the variation in hook load. To reduce pressure and evenly distribute it is possible through the creation of more advanced propulsion and suspension systems. The purpose of this article is to analyze the most promising designs of the mobile agricultural machinery undercarriage systems, which can reduce the specific pressure on the ground, improve the throughput of agricultural machinery and provide a more comfortable planting and harvesting. At the moment, the following main directions of development of agricultural machinery undercarriage systems can be distinguished: pneumatic tracks, twin wheels, half-track, installation of rubber-reinforced tracks (RRT) and torsion as an elastic suspension element. The tests carried out confirmed that the installation of a changeable tracked propulsion unit can reduce the degree of soil compaction by 17-46 %, and the use of twin wheels showed an increase in pulling force by 20 % and a decrease in gauge depth by 40 %. The use of pneumatic trackers allows to increase the permeability of the transport vehicle on soils with a weak bearing capacity and at the same time minimize the damage that it can cause to the supporting base. Recently it is popular to operate the agricultural machinery, which uses rubber-reinforced caterpillar. Its caterpillar operational cycle if higher of 4-5 times comparing to those from metal. In addition, it allows to reduce vibration load and do the work at wet soil conditions. RRT is put both in the all-track version, and in the form of a wheel-caterpillar. This propulsion unit has a triangular shape of rubber tracks is mounted instead of wheels. Currently, individual torsion hangers of track rollers are widely used on tracked tractors. The advantages of the new torsion-balance suspension made it possible to increase the reliability and durability of tracked tractors undercarriage systems.