Due to the unique structural characteristics of the traditional spiral fertilizer applicator, the instantaneous filling coefficient cannot be determined, which is not conducive to achieving precise control of the fertilizer discharge rate. Therefore, a spiral-pushing fertilizer applicator has been designed. By using a structure of variable diameter and variable spiral pitch to squeeze fertilizer gradually, precise control of the fertilizer discharge is achieved. The study analyzes the effects of screw pitch, screw diameter, and rotational speed on the filling coefficient; it uses spiral pitch elongation percentage, spiral diameter elongation percentage, and rotational speed as experimental factors, and filling coefficient and particle axial velocity coefficient as experimental indicators. Through quadratic orthogonal rotation combination design experiments, the fertilizer discharge performance of the spiral-pushing fertilizer applicator was optimized. The experimental results indicate that for the filling coefficient, x₁x₂ has an extremely significant impact, while for the axial velocity coefficient of particles, x₁ and x₃ have an extremely significant impact. When the rotational speed x₃ is 30 r/min, the optimized spiral pitch elongation percentage x₁ is 189.82–200%, the spiral diameter elongation percentage x₂ is 102.75–106.76, the filling coefficient is greater than 95%, and the particle axial velocity coefficient is less than 10%, achieving the best fertilizer discharge performance. An electrically controlled fertilizer discharge system was also designed, and bench tests were conducted on it. The results show that the average deviation between the fertilizer discharge performance of the spiral-pushing fertilizer applicator driven by the electrically controlled fertilizer discharge system and the preset value is 2.14%. This proves that, when the fertilizer demand changes, the fertilizer discharge flow can be adjusted through the electrically controlled fertilizer discharge system to achieve precise fertilization. This study provides a reference for the design of spiral fertilizer applicators.

In order to solve the traditional single-spiral fertilizer discharger issue of the fluctuation of fertilizer-discharge flow and the problem of precise fertilizer discharge, the innovative design of a cantilevered oblique placement of a fertilizer-discharging spiral structure in the form of an inclined spiral fertilizer discharger was realized, in which, through the fertilizer spiral’s full end-filled extrusion, uniform delivery of the discharge was achieved. Discrete element simulation was used to compare the fertilizer-discharge characteristics of inclined and traditional single-spiral fertilizer dischargers, and the results proved that the inclined spiral fertilizer discharger effectively reduced the fluctuation of the fertilizer-discharge flow rate. Through a theoretical analysis preformed to determine the theoretical fertilizer discharge and the main parameters affecting the uniformity of fertilizer discharge, we identified the tilting angle of the fertilizer discharger (θ) and the distance from the termination spiral blade to the fertilizer outlet (l). A two-factor, five-level quadratic generalized rotary combination experiment was conducted with two parameters (θ and l) as the experiment factors and the variation coefficient of fertilizer-discharge uniformity (σ) as the experiment indicator. The experimental results showed that for σ, θ was a highly significant effect, l was a significant effect, and σ was less than 8.5%; when θ was 35.02° and l was 16.87 mm, the fertilizer-discharge performance was better. A bench experiment was used to compare the traditional and inclined spiral fertilizer dischargers, and the results showed that the relative error of the variation coefficient between the bench and the simulation experiment under this combination was 2.28%. And compared with the traditional spiral fertilizer discharger’s σ average increase of 80.79%, the effect of fertilizer discharge was better than the traditional spiral fertilizer discharger. A fertilizer application controller was developed, and the bench performance was tested based on the measured fertilizer-discharge flow rate fitting equation of this combined inclined spiral fertilizer discharger. The results show that the electronically controlled inclined spiral fertilizer discharger has an average deviation of 3.12% from the preset value, which can be used to regulate the flow of fertilizer discharged through the fertilizer controller to realize precise fertilizer application, and this study can provide a reference for the optimal design of the spiral fertilizer discharger.

In order to solve the problems of existing spiral fertilizer apparatuses, such as the variation in cavity filling rate with rotational speed, fluctuation of fertilizer discharge flow, and inability to discharge fertilizer precisely, a triple-head gradually reducing spiral fertilizer apparatus is designed, which gradually compresses fertilizer particles through the triple-head reducing fertilizer spiral structure to achieve complete cavity filling and uniform fertilizer discharge. The main factors that affect the particle motion state and the structural size of the spiral fertilizer through theoretical analysis are determined, and its theoretical fertilizer discharge amount and rotational speed are calculated. Using EDEM (Discrete Element Method Software 2022) to establish a simulation model of a single-head gradually reducing fertilizer apparatus, the spiral lead reduction percentage x₁, spiral diameter reduction percentage x₂, and rotational speed x₃ are determined as experimental factors, and the filling rate μ and spiral torque Y_average are used as experimental indicators to conduct a simulation study on the secondary universal rotation combination design experiment. The results show that when the rotational speed is 95 r/min, the spiral lead reduction percentage is 60.00~73.21%, the spiral diameter reduction percentage is 86.55~97.05%, the filling rate μ is greater than 95%, and the spiral torque Y_average is less than 16 N·m. In order to further improve the uniformity of fertilizer discharge and ensure the controllable accuracy of fertilizer discharge, comparative verification experiments are conducted on single-, double-, and triple-head gradually reducing spiral fertilizer discharge devices and ordinary spiral fertilizer discharge devices. The results show that the precision of the gradually reducing spiral fertilizer apparatus is better than that of the ordinary spiral fertilizer apparatus. Moreover, it is determined that the three-head style performed best. The triple-head gradually reducing spiral fertilizer apparatus is also validated by randomly adjusting six rotational speeds. The experiment results show that the average deviation of the fertilizer discharge flow rate of the fertilizer apparatus from the preset value is 3.16%. The two have a minor deviation, and the fertilizer precision is high. Precise control of the amount of fertilizer discharged can be achieved by adjusting the rotational speed, and the research can provide a specific reference for the improved design and precise control of the spiral fertilizer apparatus.