RELEVANT HARDENING TECHNOLOGIES FOR TILLAGE MACHINES WORK TOOLS

Abstract

The use of modern tillage machines can significantly improve the productivity, quality and efficiency of tillage. A significant part of the work tools (more than 60 percent) loses their operability due to wear of the working surfaces, which leads to downtime and significant material costs. (Research purpose) The research purpose is analyzing the most used technologies for strengthening the work tool of agricultural machines in order to determine the occupied market share. (Materials and methods) The data were collected on the websites of companies that sell spare parts for agricultural machinery in order to analyze the technologies used to strengthen the work tools of agricultural machinery. The information was divided in three main categories of work tools: work tools for cultivation, work tools for plowing, work tools for disking. (Results and discussion) The article presents the histogram based on the analysis of the hardening technologies of work tools, showing the share of various technologies in the following areas: volumetric hardening; quenching with high-frequency currents of cutting edges; application of powder materials followed by melting with high-frequency currents; electric arc surfacing with carbide materials; without the use of hardening technologies; plasma hardening of cutting holes. (Conclusions) The analysis of the Russian market of work tools of tillage machines was carried out in order to assess the most relevant and in-demand hardening technologies. The article presents collected and processed data on the occupied market share as a percentage of certain types of hardening. A comparative analysis of the hardening methods of foreign and Russian manufacturers was given.