Study of Patterns of Movement of Groups of Seed Potatoes in Conical Seed Box Based on the Dem-Model of the Process

Hui Cai,Xin Luo,Jian Wang,Bin Hu,Zibin Mao,Chenglin Yuan,Yong Chen

doi:10.3390/pr10020363

Abstract

To reduce the missing rate caused by the arching phenomenon of seed potatoes in the traditional seed boxes of cup-belt potato planters, a conical-shaped seed box comprising a seed-metering box and a reseeding box connected together was proposed. The method in this paper combined the discrete-element-analysis method and response-surface method and took the movement of the seed-potato group in the seed box as the research object. First, by analyzing the force and speed of seed potatoes, the main structural parameters affecting the seed-box seed-metering performance were determined, and the indices for evaluating the seed-box seed-metering performance were established. Additionally, a single-factor simulation test and orthogonal test were carried out for the main structural parameters of the seed box. Using the optimized structural parameters of the seed box, a trial conical seed box was produced, and bench-verification tests were carried out. The results showed that the multiple rate, missing rate and coefficient of the variation of the plant distance for the conical seed box were reduced by 4.76%, 4.0% and 9.18%, respectively. The research results have practical significance as guidance for improving the sowing performance of cup-belt potato planters. At the same time, the research results have reference value for solving the arching problem for granular materials in the box.

Highlights

It is not difficult to determine that most of the seed boxes are welded by steel plates, which are generally composed of two parts: the cube in the upper layer and the trapezoidal platform in the lower layer [2,3,4,5]
In view of the above problems, this paper proposes changing the intersection-angle seed box of cup-belt potato planters into a conical seed box
The results show that the multiple rate, missing rate and coefficient of the variation of the plant distance of the conical seed box were reduced by 4.76%, 4.0% and 9.18%, respectively [37]

Summary

Introduction

If a seed box with a specific capacity is required, its size can be determined according to the corresponding parameters [1]. It is not difficult to determine that most of the seed boxes are welded (bent) by steel plates, which are generally composed of two parts: the cube in the upper layer and the trapezoidal platform in the lower layer [2,3,4,5]. If the requirement for the capacity of the seed box is low, the seed box can be composed of only a trapezoidal platform. Seeds in such types of seed boxes cannot fall freely, which increases the missing rate for the planter

Objectives

Methods

Results