No-tillage seeding is of great significance for adjusting and improving soil structure in Northeast China. The conventional no-tillage seeder faces several issues with its row cleaner, such as a low straw cleaning rate and a high working resistance. To address these problems, this paper utilizes the bionic design method and develops a bionic elastic row cleaner inspired by the motion behavior of mole excavation. The bionic structure includes bent teeth and a torsion spring for lateral throwing. The MBD–DEM coupled simulation technology is proposed as the experimental optimization method, and it analyzes the interactions between different row cleaners, straw, and soil. The results indicate that a bionic elastic row cleaner with curved teeth and a torsion spring for lateral throwing (BA-T) had a higher straw cleaning rate and total kinetic energy of straw. It also had lower working resistance. The field test results indicate that the BA-T improved the straw cleaning rate by 13.04% and reduced the working resistance by 39.24% compared to a flat row cleaner. This outcome also validates the accuracy of the simulation experiments. This study contributes to the design of new and efficient row cleaners suitable for maize straw mulching and no-tillage conditions, thereby promoting the adoption of conservation agriculture practices.

Suitable strip-tillage effectively enhances crop productivity and soil quality in Northeast China, yet conventional strip-tillage machines suffer from inadequate soil fragmentation. To address this issue, this study developed a bionic auxiliary soil-crushing device for the equipment. Specifically, we conducted a theoretical analysis of the soil-crushing blade to identify the key structural parameters affecting operational performance, along with their optimal value ranges. The blade tooth structure was designed following the claw-toe contour of the Oriental mole cricket (Gryllotalpa orientalis) for enhanced efficiency. A two-factor (working width and working depth), three-level central composite design (CCD) experiment was carried out using EDEM 2021 discrete element simulation software, taking the soil fragmentation rate and operational resistance as response variables. The results suggested that optimal performance was achieved at a working width of 40.66 mm and a working depth of 50 mm. Field experiments demonstrate that the soil fragmentation rate increased as the operational speed rose. The addition of the auxiliary device contributed to a soil fragmentation rate of 94.54%, bringing about an 11.54% improvement compared to the non-equipped machine. This outcome also validated the accuracy of the simulation experiments. This research provides technical and equipment support for the further development of conservation tillage practices.

To address the issues of high working power consumption and poor structural stability of current ploughing equipment under conditions of straw coverage and heavy clay soil, a 1LFT-450D variable width reversible plough (VWRP) with resistance reduction function is designed. Based on the shark shield scale, a bionic resistance reduction plough body was designed. Through theoretical analysis, the turnover mechanism (TM) and the working width adjustment mechanism (WWAM) were designed, and their main structural parameters were determined. Further research was conducted on key components using simulation software. The discrete element method (DEM) simulation results indicated that arranging bionic ribs on the plough breast achieved the best resistance reduction effect compared with the ploughshare tip and ploughshare. Meanwhile, relative to the conventional plough body, the designed bionic plough body exhibited average reductions in resistance and energy consumption of 12.55% and 12.34%, respectively. The soil bin test further verified the resistance reduction performance of the designed bionic plough body. The kinematic performance of the TM and the WWAM was analyzed using RecurDyn, and their reliability and stability were verified through the mechanism performance test. The results of the field operation performance test showed that under the conditions of forward speed of 8–10 km·h⁻¹ and working width of 1320–2000 mm, the operation performance of the designed VWRP satisfied the requirements of relevant standards. This study can provide a theoretical reference for the resistance reduction optimization of agricultural machinery soil-engaging parts and the design of new ploughs.