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Soil & Tillage Research: Jafar Habibi Asl, Surendra Singh

This document discusses the optimization and evaluation of rotary tiller blades through mathematical modeling. The authors developed mathematical models to determine the minimum surface area and optimal cutting angle of rotary tiller blades. They fabricated three types of blades (C-type, L-type, and RC-type) based on the computer solutions of the mathematical models. Experiments showed that the mathematical model could predict power requirements within 6% of measured values. Specific work requirements were found to have an exponential relationship with bite length and a linear relationship with velocity ratio. The RC-type blade performed best with lower specific work requirements and higher soil tillage volumes compared to the other blades tested under various operating conditions.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
108 views7 pages

Soil & Tillage Research: Jafar Habibi Asl, Surendra Singh

This document discusses the optimization and evaluation of rotary tiller blades through mathematical modeling. The authors developed mathematical models to determine the minimum surface area and optimal cutting angle of rotary tiller blades. They fabricated three types of blades (C-type, L-type, and RC-type) based on the computer solutions of the mathematical models. Experiments showed that the mathematical model could predict power requirements within 6% of measured values. Specific work requirements were found to have an exponential relationship with bite length and a linear relationship with velocity ratio. The RC-type blade performed best with lower specific work requirements and higher soil tillage volumes compared to the other blades tested under various operating conditions.

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diegomanuel123
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Soil & Tillage Research 106 (2009) 1–7

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Soil & Tillage Research


journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/still

Optimization and evaluation of rotary tiller blades: Computer solution of


mathematical relations
Jafar Habibi Asl a,*, Surendra Singh b
a
Ahwaz Agricultural Research Centre, Ahwaz, Iran
b
Department of Farm Power and Machinery, PAU, Ludhiana, India

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Article history: Rotary tiller blades are used to achieve advantages of lower draft requirement, better soil breakup and
Received 5 July 2008 more efficient inversion and trash mixing. Since these blades are fabricated in different shapes and
Received in revised form 24 September 2009 dimensions by local manufacturers, this study was aimed at development of three types of rotary
Accepted 24 September 2009
blades (namely, C-type, L-type, and RC-type) in order to reduce the energy requirement for tillage by
optimizing the parameters which affect the cutting force of the rotary blades. For this reason the
Keywords: mathematical model of power requirement of the rotary blades and the equations of surface area per
Mathematical model
unit volume of soil tilled as well as cutting angle were determined and computer programs to solve
Power requirement
those equations were developed. From the results of computer programs, blade geometrical
Rotary blades
Specific work dimensions corresponding to the minimum and optimum blade surface area per unit volume of
soil tilled and cutting angle were selected to fabricate the rotary blades. The validity of the model for
prediction of power requirement was checked via experiments conducted in indoor soil bin by
measuring electrical power needed for rotating blades. The variation between experimental and
prediction values ranged from 6% to +3.1%. Fabricated blades were also evaluated on the basis of
specific work requirement in various numbers of blades per flange, forward speed and rotor speed.
Specific work had an exponential relation with bite length, whereas linear relationship was observed
with velocity ratio for all the blades tested. RC-type blade with less specific work requirement and more
volume of soil tilled, had better performance than other blades.
ß 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction and trash mixing. When a tiller is pulled through a field, the
resulting soil texture will be a function of soil conditions, blade
Tillage is the manipulation of soil by mechanical forces. The kinematics, and soil flow dynamics. The power consumed,
purpose of tillage tool design is to create a mechanical system, cutting action, general soil structure, and general ease of
that is, a tillage machine or a series of machines capable of cultivating will be influenced by the blade geometry, the path
controlling the applied forces in order to achieve a desired soil geometry, and the orientation of the blade relative to the path of
condition (Gill and Vanden Berg, 1967). Gill and Vanden Berg the cutting edge of the blade (Kinzel et al., 1981). Beeny and
also have emphasized that mathematical description of a tillage Khoo (1970) developed three blade shapes with different radius
process can be accomplished only when all the elements of the of curvature (C-shape, I-shape and L-shape). They reduced the
process are expressed in a quantitative sense. The goal of tool cutting force by reducing ratio of blade surface contact with soil
design is to optimize the function, efficiency, and economy of to volume of soil cut by the blade. They also compared the
the tillage process. True engineering design cannot be achieved performance of optimized rotary blades in the basis of specific
until analytical relationships, based on scientific principles, are work. The specific work requirement of the L-shape blade was
available (Ros et al., 1995). Rotary tiller, as an active tillage tool, found comparatively higher than the other two types over a
uses a power driven rotor to replace the conventional tillage similar range of operating conditions. Hendrick and Gill (1974)
implements. It can achieve advantages in terms of its lower draft mentioned that the power requirements of the rotary tiller and
requirement, better soil breakup and more efficient inversion the amount of soil pulverization, and mixing increased when the
effective cutting angle increased from some minimum value.
The parameters of rotary tiller blades ere studied with the view
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +98 9163176610; fax: +98 6113737357. of decreasing energy requirements by Lukyanov (1978). The
E-mail address: [email protected] (J.H. Asl). design of the cutting element and the mounting on the rotor

0167-1987/$ – see front matter ß 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.still.2009.09.011
2 J.H. Asl, S. Singh / Soil & Tillage Research 106 (2009) 1–7

and by the knife factor which depended upon the shape of knife
Nomenclature
edge. Gupta and Visvanathan (1993) by developing a mathe-
matical model for a rotary blade in saturated lateritic sandy clay
Fs static force (N) loam soil, found that the energy requirement of a rotary tiller
P specific soil resistance (N/m2) consist of 0.34–0.59% for cutting soil slice, 30.5–72.4% for
A cross-sectional area of soil slice (m2) throwing out soil slices, 0.96–2.45% for overcoming soil–metal
Fd total dynamic force (N) friction, 0.62–0.99% for soil–soil friction and 23.1–64.6% for idle
Fax horizontal component of acceleration force (N) power. A mathematical model was developed to predict the
Fwx horizontal force due to vertical pressure of soil energy requirement for the combined effect of a disc plow and a
mass (N) rotary blade in clay soil suitable for wet rice cultivation in
Malaysia by Ahmad and Amran (2004). The validity of the model
Ffx horizontal force due to friction of soil above the
was also checked via experiments. They found that the model
blade (N)
can be used to improve the machine capabilities for estimating
Fay vertical component of acceleration force (N) energy requirement in soil manipulation. Saimbhi et al. (2004)
Fwy vertical downward force due to vertical pressure of used computer graphics method for modification and develop-
soil mass (N) ment of rotary tiller blades. It was observed that C-shaped
Ffy vertical upward force due to friction (N) blade required major rectification in its surface followed by L-
H instantaneous working depth of the blade (m) shaped blade, for the selected range of rotor rpm, forward
Hm maximum working depth (m) speed and orientation. The computer output results of rectified
R radius of curvature of the blade (m) C-shaped blade were successfully used to make template and a
a angle of blade rotation from the horizontal (8) prototype of high carbon steel blade. A study was carried out
to measure the important design dimensions of both wet
S length of span of the blade (m)
land (L-type) and dry land (C-type) rotary blades (Das and
W width of the blade (m)
Mahapatra, 2005).
b angle of inclination of the blade from horizontal (8)
The past research work did not consider the effect of different
m mass of tilled soil (kg) parameters on energy requirement of rotary tiller blades in
a acceleration of tilled soil (m/s2) unsaturated soil. In this article we have attempt to predict the
V total volume of tilled soil (m3) power requirement, blade surface area contacted with soil and
V0 volume of tilled soil above the blade (m3) cutting angle of different rotary blades by a mathematical model.
t soil–metal friction force (N) The model validity was checked by conducting experiments in a
N normal force on blade surface (N) laboratory soil bin.
Lb bite length (m)
r rotor radius (m) 2. Materials and methods
m coefficient of soil–metal friction
2.1. Developing of rotary blades
K unit weight of soil mass (kg/m3)
Z blade surface area per unit volume of soil slice ratio In this study three types of rotary blades namely C-type, L-type,
v angular velocity (rad/s) and reduced chord-type (RC-type) have been optimized. The
Vf forward speed (m/s) optimization was correcting the parameters which affect the force
u angle of curvature of the blade (rad) acting on the blade during soil cutting process, in order to reduce
d0 effective clearance angle (8) the energy requirement for tilling. For this reason first the cutting
d00 actual clearance angle (8) force of a rotary blade and power prediction model was
Dd angle between circumference and blade trochoidal determined. The cutting force consists of two major parts, i.e.
path (8) static and dynamic forces. Static force (Fs) is dependent on the
specific resistance of the soil and is determined by Eq. (1)
R2 coefficient of determination
(Hendrick and Gill, 1971a):
Wb work done per bite (kN-m)
Ws specific work (kN-m/m3) F s ¼ PA (1)
Pr measured rotary power (W)
The dynamic force acting on a rotary blade is depending on
Pt predicted (calculated) rotary power (W) many factors, but major parts of this force are due to energy
n blade rotational velocity (rpm) requirement for throwing the soil layer and overcoming of
ap angle on which the blade enter the soil (rad) frictional forces. It was assumed that dynamic force includes
a0 angle on which the blade live the soil (rad) acceleration force, soil–metal friction force and force due to
g blade cutting angle (rad) pressure of soil above the blade (Salas and Sakai, 1975). Now the
procedure of determining of dynamic cutting force is discussed
below:
should guarantee free movement of the soil being cut loose. It The total dynamic force (Fd) can be defined by Eq. (2):
was found that decrease in the speed, angle of cutting, and qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
length of the forward face of the blade reduced energy F d ¼ Fdx 2 þ F2
dy
(2)
requirements. Sakai (1978a,b) mentioned that rotary tools of
rotary tiller were equivalent to the share and mouldboard of where
plough and use of rational shape of rotary tool was indis-
F dx ¼ F ax þ F wx þ F fx (3)
pensable for effective tillage. It was found that the external soil
forces, i.e. driving forward force and lifting up force were
presumed to be affected by the radial suction force of the blade
which was caused by the shape of the scoop surface of the blade F dy ¼ F ay þ F wy þ F fy (4)
J.H. Asl, S. Singh / Soil & Tillage Research 106 (2009) 1–7 3

Substituting Eqs. (10) and (11) in Eqs. (12) and (13), respectively
and using Eq. (9), we will get the equations:

F ax ¼ KðLb HSÞðr v2 cos aÞ (14)

F ay ¼ KðLb HSÞðr v2 sin aÞ (15)

The vertical pressure force Fwy is due to weight of soil mass above
the blade and can be calculated by Eq. (16):

F wy ¼ V 0 K (16)

By substituting Eq. (7) in Eq. (16), Fwy can be calculated as follows:


1
F wy ¼ K½H þ ðH  W sin bSW cos b (17)
2
To determine the horizontal component of force due to soil mass
above the blade, first the component of vertical force Fwy on blade
surface (F0 wy) has to be found. This force is also called tangential
force on the blade surface and is calculated by Eq. (18):
p 
F 0wy ¼ F wy cos  b ¼ F wy sin b (18)
2
Fig. 1. Tilled soil above and front of rotary blade at the depth ‘H’.
Now the horizontal component of F0 wy is equal to horizontal force
due to vertical pressure of soil mass and is determined by Eq. (19):

Suppose the maximum cutting force occurs at depth ‘H’. According F wx ¼ F 0wy cosb (19)
to Fig. 1, H can be determined by Eq. (5):
By substituting Eq. (18) in Eq. (19) we will get:
H ¼ Hm  R þ R sin a (5) F wx ¼ F wy sin b cos b
The total volume of the soil tilled above the rotary blade at the or,
depth ‘H’ is (Hendrick and Gill, 1971a):
1 0
V ¼ Lb Hw (6) F wx ¼ V K sin 2b (20)
2
For determining acceleration force the total volume V was The friction force on the blade surface is equal to normal force
considered, because all the soil in front of rotating blade was multiplied by coefficient of friction. Normal force on the blade
accelerated. But for calculating the forces due to vertical surface can be determined by equation:
pressure and friction, only the soil mass which was directly N ¼ F wy cos b
acts above the blade was considered. If we assume that the
cross-sectional area of soil mass above the blade (V0 in Fig. 1) has And friction force on blade surface is (see Fig. 1):
the shape of trapezoid, then the volume of this soil mass can be t ¼ mN
determined by Eq. (7):
or,
0 1
V ¼ ½H þ ðH  W sin bÞSW cos b (7) t ¼ mF wy cos b (21)
2
Now acceleration force can be determined by using the second law By substituting Eq. (16) in Eq. (21) we will get:
of Newton:
t ¼ mV 0 K cos b (22)
F ¼ ma (8)
The horizontal and vertical components of friction force t are
Mass of total soil tilled by rotary blade can be further calculated by determined by equations:
equation:
F fx ¼ t cos b (23)
m ¼ VK
F fy ¼ t sin b (24)
or m ¼ Lb HSK (9)
By substituting Eq. (22) in Eqs. (23) and (24), we will get:
The parametric equations which describe the acceleration ‘a’ can
be determined by using the kinematics of the rotary blade F fx ¼ mV 0 K cos2 b (25)
(Hendrick and Gill, 1978):
F fy ¼ mV 0 K sin b cos b
ax ¼ jr v2 cos aj (10)
or,
ay ¼ jr v2 sin aj (11) 1
F fy ¼ mV 0 K sin 2b (26)
By using Eq. (8) we can further calculate horizontal and vertical 2
components of acceleration force: Dynamic cutting force in x direction Fx can be determined by
F ax ¼ m ax (12) substituting Eqs. (14), (20) and (25) in Eq. (3):
1 0
F ay ¼ m ay (13) F x ¼ KðLb HSÞðr v2 cos aÞ þ V K sin 2b þ mV 0 K cos2 b (27)
2
4 J.H. Asl, S. Singh / Soil & Tillage Research 106 (2009) 1–7

Similarly dynamic cutting force in y direction can be determined by Then blade surface area per unit volume of soil slice ratio can be
substituting Eqs. (15), (20) and (26) in Eq. (4): defined as follows:
1 A
F y ¼ KðLb HSÞðr v2 sin aÞ þ V 0 K þ mV 0 K sin 2b (28) Z¼
2 V

Based on derived equations of static and dynamic forces, By substituting Eqs. (30) and (6) in above equation, we get the
mathematical model to predict power requirement of rotary tiller relation:
blades is the sum of the power required to cut the soil and the
  
power required to throw the soil: W u
Z¼ Hm  R sin u  S  2R sin2 cot þ R u
P t ¼ ðF s þ F d Þr v ¼ ðPA þ F s Þr v (29) Lb :H:W b 2

S  2R sin2 u =2
Eqs. (27)–(29) show that power required for a rotary blade þ (32)
sin u
is a function of blade geometrical parameters (blade width,
span and surface area) and instantaneous blade inclination A computer program was developed to solve Eq. (32) in the
angle (b). Angle b, in turn, is also function of blade cutting working range of rotary blades. From results of this program, blade
angle (g): geometrical parameters corresponding to minimum and optimum
Z value were selected to fabricate the blades. Fig. 3 shows the
b ¼ 90 þ g  a (30) developed and fabricated rotary blades for this study.
That is why the theory of minimizing blade surface area per unit
volume of soil tilled and determining optimum cutting angle in 2.2. Determination of the cutting angle
order to reduce the total cutting force and hereby specific energy
requirement, has been used in this study. The cutting angle (g) is defined as angle between the blade
Fig. 2 shows the cross-section of a typical rotary cultivator plane and tangent to circumference. This angle can be determined
blade. Blade surface area was determined by equation: by the relation (Hendrick and Gill, 1974):
 
u

S  2R sin2 u=2
 g ¼ Dd þ d0 þ d00 (33)
A ¼ Hm  R sin u  S  2R sin2 cot u þ R u þ W
2 sin u By using kinematics of trajectory of a rotary blade (Hendrick
(31) and Gill, 1978) angle Dd, angle between tangent to circumference
and tangent to the blade trochoidal path, was further determined
by equation:
 
Rv cos a
Dd ¼ ð90 þ aÞ  tan1 (34)
V f  Rv sin a

Angles d0 and d00 in Eq. (33) were selected equal to 58 and 38


respectively in order to prevent touching of the rear plane of
the blade into undisturbed soil (Bernacki et al., 1972; Hendrick
and Gill, 1974). Angle Dd was determined by developing a
computer program to calculate Eq. (33) in the working range of
machine forward speed and blade angular velocity at different
angles of rotation (a). The maximum calculated value of Dd
was inserted in Eq. (32) to determine the minimum blades
cutting angle.

Fig. 3. Developed and fabricated rotary blades (left to right: C-type, L-type and
Fig. 2. Cross-section of a typical rotary cultivator blade. RC-type).
J.H. Asl, S. Singh / Soil & Tillage Research 106 (2009) 1–7 5

Table 1
Input parameters required to calculate total power of rotary blades.

Parameters Value
2
P (specific soil resistance, kg/m ) 2300

A (cross-sectional area of soil slice, mm2) C-type: 3897


L-type: 4571
RC-type: 3857

H (maximum working depth, m) 0.06


S (length of span of the blade, m) 0.04
W (width of the blade, m) 0.05
r (rotor radius, m) 0.24
m (coefficient of soil–metal friction) 0.54
K (unit weight of soil mass, kg/m3) 1300
Vf (forward speed, km/h) 1.4, 2.5, 3.6
n (blade rotational velocity, rpm) 110, 165, 240
g (blade cutting angle, 8) 29.5 Fig. 4. Diagram of the change of the angle Dd with velocity ratio at different
rotational angle.

2.3. Experimental method different blades. The input parameters shown in Table 1 were used
to solve the equation.
The optimized and fabricated rotary blades were evaluated on
the basis of specific work requirement in the laboratory soil bin of 3. Results and discussion
Farm Power and Machinery Department, Punjab Agricultural
University (PAU), Ludhiana, India. The soil bin was 14.5 m long, 3.1. Computer programs results
92 cm wide, and 27 cm depth. The soil used for all tests was semi-
artificial soil, a mixture of equal parts sand and clay, with 15% SAE The blade geometrical dimensions corresponding to the
140 regular type gear lubricant as a binder. Each load of soil was minimum and optimum blade surface area per unit volume of
mulled by a muller machine for 45 min and then sieved through 3- soil slice are reported in Table 2. These selected dimensions were
mm mesh before experimentation. This semi-artificial soil which for maximum working depth of 60 mm and blade span of 40 mm.
was described by Sambhi (2001) was found to be stable for a four- The results of computer program to solve Eq. (34) are shown in
month period, as the tests were conducted during two months. Fig. 4. This figure presents how the clearance angle Dd changes at
After setting the rotary blades on the designed frame in the soil bin, various velocity ratios l in different rotational angle a. The lower is
treatments of forward speeds (1.4, 2.5 and 3.6 km/h), rotor speeds the ratio the higher is the value of the angle Dd in the range of
(110, 165 and 244 rpm) and numbers of blades per flange (2, 4 and rotational angles from zero to +908. The proper value of the angle
6) were selected for the entire experiment. Ddmax can be read from the diagram, according to aP, the angle at
Specific work of rotary blades was defined as the ratio of work which the knife of the rotary blade comes in contact with the soil
done per bite to volume of soil worked per bite as the equation: surface. In this study the calculated angle aP for working depth of
W s ¼ Vb
W 60 mm and rotor radius of 240 mm was 48.68. From Fig. 4 the angle
Volume of soil slice V was determined according to Eq. (6), and Ddmax corresponding to aP = 48.68 is 21.58. This Ddmax value was
work done per bite was calculated by equation: substituted in Eq. (33) to calculate the blade cutting angle, i.e.:
a  a  60 g ¼ 21:5 þ 5 þ 3 ¼ 29:5
0 p
W b ¼ Pr
2p n To check the validity of the predicted model, both calculated
Pr, a0 and ap were measured directly by ‘Universal Power Meter/ power (Pt) and measured power (Pr) were compared for different
Load Analyzer’ (UPM) instrument for each 0.05 s time interval. rotary blades. Fig. 5 represents the variation of power required for the
UPM measured the electrical power consumed by the 5 HP-3 phase blades. The total power in both measured and predicted form was the
electrical motor which was used for rotating the tools. The signals highest for L-type blade and the lowest for C-type blade. The
from UPM instrument were transferred to the computer for variation ranged from 6.0% to +3.1%. The measured values were
farther analysis. found to be higher in RC and L-type blades. It could be assumed that in
However, calculations were done by a computer program on the these blades, due to more cutting and throwing the soil, acceleration
total power requirement, Pt, from the theoretical model for force was comparatively higher than that in C-type blade.

Table 2
Blade geometrical dimension resulted from computer program to develop the
rotary blades.

Blade C-type L-type RC-type

Parameters
Angle of curvature (8) 60 90 90
Radius of curvature (mm) 48 20 20
Length of curvature (mm) 50.3 31.4 31.4
Span of the blade (mm) 40 40 40
Blade height (mm) 180 180 180

Total surface area contact 3897 4571 3857


with soil for 60 mm
working depth (mm2)
Total blade length (mm) 198 211.5 211.5
Fig. 5. Power variation for different rotary blades.
6 J.H. Asl, S. Singh / Soil & Tillage Research 106 (2009) 1–7

Table 3
Specific work requirement (kN-m/m3) for different combinations of blade types, number of blades per flange, forward speed and rotational velocity.

Treatment Blades type Forward speed (km/h) Rotary speed (rpm) Mean

C L RC 1.4 2.5 3.6 110 165 244

Number of blades 2 25.64 30.23 26.43 38.47 24.50 19.34 14.75 25.18 42.38 27.44
per flange 4 52.77 62.99 56.08 79.73 50.32 41.78 31.08 54.01 86.75 57.28
6 82.09 96.40 80.00 121.40 61.54 47.29 79.15 132.1 86.17

Forward speed 1.4 75.54 86.54 77.52 79.87


(km/h) 2.5 48.20 54.31 47.85 50.12
3.6 36.76 48.77 37.14 40.90

Rotary speed 110 29.14 34.36 29.61 44.91 27.36 20.84 31.04
(rpm) 165 49.19 61.21 47.93 72.23 45.70 40.40 52.78
244 82.17 94.04 84.97 122.50 77.30 61.42 87.07

Mean 53.50 63.21 54.17 79.87 50.08 40.90 31.04 52.78 87.07

3.2. Effect of different parameters on specific work requirement blades tested (Fig. 8). This was due to reduction in bite length
which reduced the volume of tilled soil per bite and also
Using the statistical method, the analysis of variance was increasing in air resistance, centrifugal force in throwing the soil
done to check the significance of interrelationship among mass and rate of cutting.
obtained data sets. Table 3 gives the specific work for different For the effect of velocity ratio, l, due to more numbers of blade
combinations of blade type, number of blades per flange, thrust per volume of soil disturbed, specific work increased with
forward speed and rotational velocity. The results showed that increase in velocity ratio for all the blades tested (Fig. 9).
L-type blade required 18.1% more specific work than C-type Regression analysis performed on specific work data for each
blade. Reduction in surface area of RC-type blade resulted to blade showed that there was linear relationship between specific
have 14.3% less specific work as compared with L-type blade. In work requirement and velocity ratio which are described by the
spite of net energy requirement of RC-type blade was more than following regression equations:
C-type blade, but there was no significant difference in specific SW C ¼ 0:29005 þ 7:20253 l; R2 ¼ 85%
work requirement between these two blades. Because RC-type
blade was cutting bigger soil slice by each it’s thrust than C-type
SW L ¼ 5:68249 þ 7:74399 l; R2 ¼ 88%
blade. Visual assessment also supported this result. C-type blade
left a rigid of uncut soil in between of each tilled strip, while the
tilled strip by RC and L-type blades was even and without uncut SW RC ¼ 0:97216 þ 7:5019 l; R2 ¼ 85%
rigid of soil.
It was observed that as number of blades per flange increased,
due to reduction in tilling pitch, specific work increased
significantly (Fig. 6). The value of specific work became more
than twice when number of blades per flange increased from 2 to 4
blades, while this increment was 50.4% as number of blades per
flange increased from 4 to 6.
The specific work reduced significantly by increasing forward
speed. Increase in the forward speed resulted to cut longer bite
and thereby less energy was required per volume of soil tilled.
The reduction in specific work was more (37.2%) when forward
speed increased from 1.4 to 2.5 km/h (Fig. 7). For interaction of
forward speed and blade types it was found that specific work of
L-type blade was affected less than other blades, especially
when forward speed increased from 2.5 to 3.6 km/h. Specific Fig. 7. Effect of forward speed on specific work for different types of blade.
work highly increased with increase in rotary speed for all the

Fig. 6. Effect of number of blades per flange on specific work for different types
of blade. Fig. 8. Effect of rotational velocity on specific work for different types of blade.
J.H. Asl, S. Singh / Soil & Tillage Research 106 (2009) 1–7 7

relations between specific work requirements of the blades


tested and the bite length:

SW C ¼ Lnð4:51037  0:09944 Lb Þ; R2 ¼ 95%

SW L ¼ Lnð4:70046  0:09835 Lb Þ; R2 ¼ 95%

SW RC ¼ Lnð4:51611  0:09662 Lb Þ; R2 ¼ 95%

where SWC, SWL and SWRC are specific work requirement (kN-m/
m3) for C-, L- and RC-type blades respectively, and Lb is bite length
(cm). The calculated t-values for partial regression coefficients
of above equations indicating that bite length plays important
and significant role in exponential function at the 1% level of
significance.
Fig. 9. Effect of velocity ratio on specific work for different types of blade.
4. Conclusion

Force analysis and predicted model showed that amount of total


power required for a rotary blade is a function of blade geometrical
parameters (blade cutting area per unit volume of soil slice), cutting
angle and square of the rotor speed. This result was also supported in
evaluation of the blades in soil bin under independent variables
which affect the amount of total power. It was found that the
variation between measured and predicted power varied from 6%
to +3.1% which was not significant. Thereby, the model can be used
to improve the machine capabilities for estimating power require-
ment in soil manipulation. It was also concluded that RC-type blade
with less specific work requirement and more volume of soil tilled,
had better performance than other blades.

References

Ahmad, D., Amran, F.A., 2004. Energy prediction model for disc plow combined with
a rotary blade in wet clay soil. International Journal of Engineering and
Technology 1 (2), 102–114.
Beeny, J.M., Khoo, D.C.P., 1970. Preliminary investigation into the performance of
different shaped blades for the rotary tillage of wet rice soil. Journal of
Fig. 10. Effect of bite length on specific work for different types of blade. Agricultural Engineering Research 15, 27–33.
Bernacki, H., Haman, J., Kanafojski, C.Z., 1972. Agricultural Machines Theory and
Construction, Vol. I, U.S. Department of Commerce Springfield, U.S.A..
Das, D.K., Mahapatra, N., 2005. A study on the design specification of power
tiller rotary tynes. In: Paper Presented in 39th Annual Convention and Sympo-
where SWC, SWL and SWRC are specific work requirement (kN-m/ sium of Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers, March 9–11, Acharya N.G.
Ranga Agricultural University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, vol. 500, p. 030.
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