Abstract
An experimental investigation was conducted to study the trend of draft force against forward speed and working depth for a range of lift angles beyond acute angles for a simple plane tillage tool. The experiments were performed in an indoor soil bin facility equipped with a tool carriage and a soil preparation unit propelled by an integrated hydraulic power system. The system was also equipped with electronic instrumentation including an Extended Octagonal Ring Transducer (EORT) and a data logger. The factorial experiment (4×3×3) with three replications was used based on Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). The independent variables were lift angle of the blade (45, 70, 90 and 120°), forward speed (2, 4 and 6 km h-1) and working depth (10, 25 and 40 cm). The variance analysis for the draft force shows that all independent variables affect the draft force at 1% level of significance. The trend of the draft force against working depth and forward speed had almost a linear increase. However, the trend of the draft force against the lift angle is reversed for lift angles >90. This finding, conflicts with the results of analytical and numerical studies which extrapolate the results achieved for acute lift angles to obtuse lift angles and have not been reported experimentally.
Highlights
In addition to reclamation and earth moving activities, it is estimated that about 50% of the energy consumed in agriculture is used for mechanical soil manipulation which is performed by various tillage tools and implements (Davoudi et al, 2008)
An experimental investigation was conducted to study the trend of draft force against forward speed and working depth for a range of lift angles beyond acute angles for a simple plane tillage tool
Since many other parameters act as disturbing variables and may affect the results. The results of this analysis show that the impacts of all independent variables and their interactions on the draft force are significant at the 1% level of significance (Table 2)
Summary
In addition to reclamation and earth moving activities, it is estimated that about 50% of the energy consumed in agriculture is used for mechanical soil manipulation which is performed by various tillage tools and implements (Davoudi et al, 2008). The intensity of this energy consumption is largely influenced by their draft requirements. Manian et al, 2000; Gratton et al, 2003; Mamman & Oni, 2005; Manuwa & Ademosun, 2007) These efforts have been carried out by employing different techniques including experimental, analytical and numerical approaches Despite providing a large number of relations on the mechanical behavior of tillage tools, full understanding of their mechanics has not been achieved yet and a lack of sufficient knowledge in the literature is observed
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