Design and test of post-seat weeding machine for paddy

Optimizing agricultural tire traction is essential for improving field efficiency and minimizing soil degradation. This study examines the influence of lug spacing and vertical load on traction performance using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) in ANSYS and the semi-empirical Wong and Preston-Thomas tire model. Simulations were conducted on clay soil under vertical loads of 35 kN, 45 kN, and 55 kN, with varying lug spacings. The results indicate that a 130 mm lug spacing provides the best balance between traction, thrust, and motion resistance. Higher vertical loads intensify soil compaction, leading to reduced thrust generation at 55 kN despite decreased motion resistance. These findings emphasize the importance of optimizing lug configurations to enhance traction while mitigating soil compaction. The study contributes to improving tire designs for agricultural machinery, promoting efficiency and sustainability in soil management.

In order to know the effect of varied grousers on the reaction of soil, the reaction of soil by a plate at different angles of inclination using the two-dimensional discrete element method (DEM) has been investigated. Either the simulation or the experiment, a flat iron plate with 5 × 77 × 100 (mm) was used, and the inclination angle between the plate and the soil surface ranged from 0 to 60 degrees with 15-degree intervals. According to the result, the cohesive soil model introduced in the 2D DEM could successfully replicate the experimental results considering the effects of different inclination angles of the plate and the values of the root mean square error between the simulation and the experiment were found as 6.62, 36.60, 58.63, 60.84, and 66.25 N for inclination angles from 0 to 60 degrees in the horizontal direction. Moreover, the RMSE values of 127.91, 216.06, 75.88, 110.40, and 25.49 N were obtained for the vertical direction. Overall, a minimal discrepancy was observed between the results of DEM simulation and those of experiments in the vertical component of reaction force when the inclination angle of the plate was increased.

In order to investigate the soil reactions influenced by the single plate with the inclination angles from 0° to 75°, an in-house code of 2D DEM has been developed in this study. An iron flat plate penetrated soil by a constant velocity of 1 mm/s in the study. In the penetration test, the maximum vertical force was 753.8 N which was generated by the 0° plate. In addition, it was found that the less the inclination angle, the greater the vertical force. Furthermore, a greater force in the horizontal direction has been generated at 45° of the inclination angle. This research can provide a theoretical reference for optimizing tools that contact soil, for example, patterns/lugs on wheels, earthmoving blades (such as rotary cultivators, bulldozers, weeding machines etc.) and grouser of tracks.