In order to clarify the mechanism of tiller–soil interaction in the process of strip rotary tillage, this paper conducted a simulation and experimental research on four blade configurations composed of three rotary blades (bent C, straight and hoe) at three rotation speeds (280, 380 and 510 rpm). The study found that the soil throwing characteristics of the blades are the key factors affecting the quality of tillage. The increase in the rotation speed not only improved the soil breaking effect, but also enhanced the phenomenon of soil throwing and then led to a reduction in the soil backfill. In the BC configuration (combination of four bent C blades), the bent C blades showed the best soil throwing characteristics and created the best soil fragmentation. However, due to the obvious side throwing of the soil, the backfill effect of soil fragmentation was the worst. The backfill rate was only 8% when the rotation speed was 510 rpm and could not allow reaching the required seed–soil contact during sowing. The hoe blades in the HC configuration (combination of four hoe blades) could collect part of the soil fragments and throw them towards the direction of the machine during the cultivation process, which led to a good soil breaking effect and a low soil side throwing rate. When the rotation speed was 510 rpm, 36% of the soil was backfilled into the seedbed. In the SC configuration (combination of four straight blades), the straight blades could well control the scattering of the side-thrown soil fragments. At a super-high rotation speed (510 rpm), the side throwing rate was only 70%, and the backfill rate was as high as 60%. However, the soil fragments created by the blades were too large (average soil block diameter > 40 mm) and could not form a loose and finely broken seedbed environment. The MC configuration (combination of two straight blades and two hoe blades) benefited from the combination of straight blades and hoe blades, offering outstanding advantages for backfill and soil fragmentation. Therefore, under the condition of a centralized configuration of field surface straw, it is recommended to use the MC configuration of the wheat rotary strip–till planter for cohesive paddy soil.

The quality of walnuts deteriorates owing to the poor quality of the shelling equipment. The improvement of shelling quality is urgently required for walnut processing. In this study, systematic research was carried out on the changes in walnut mechanical properties, mechanical model of walnut shelling, and the key parameters of the equipment. The key parameters were determined as the angles of the shelling conic roller (X₁), speeds of the shelling conic roller (X₂), clearance between the shelling conic roller and the static roller (X₃), and the moisture content of walnuts (X₄). The Box–Behnken design method was used for the experimental design, an analysis of variance was applied to determine the graded significance of each variable on the rate of high-quality kernel (RHQK) and rate of shell rushing (RSC), and the multi-objective optimization method was used to obtain the optimal parameters for RHQK and RSC. The ranking of factors affecting RHQK and RSC were: (X₃) > (X₄) > (X₂) > (X₁) for RHQK, and (X₂) > (X₃) > (X₄) > (X₁) for RSC. The ranks of significant interactive effects among the factors were as follows: (X₁ X₂) > (X₂ X₃) for RHQK and (X₂ X₃) > (X₃ X₄) > (X₂ X₄) for RSC. The multi-objective optimization results showed that the optimal combination was $X_1$ = 15.83°, $X_2$ = 17.93 rpm, $X_3$ = 45 mm, and $X_4$ = 9.5%, yielding RHQK = 84.54%, and RSC = 99.15%. The verification test of the optimal results further illustrates the accuracy of the optimization. The obtained results showed that the quality of walnut shelling can be improved by adjusting the moisture content of walnuts and optimizing key parameters of the equipment. This method also represents a potential solution for improving the shelling quality of other nuts.