DEVELOPMENT AND TEST OF FREQUENCY SUBSECTION REGULATION SYSTEM FOR COMBINE HARVESTER HEADER CUTTER

Aiming at the problems that the cutter frequency of combine harvester is difficult to be adjusted adaptively with the forward speed, and that the missed cut or repeated cut may cause the harvesting loss to increase and the operation effect to fluctuate greatly, the system is designed to regulate the cutter frequency of combine harvester by sections. By constructing the cutter trajectory equation, the influence of the relationship between the forward speed of the harvester and the cutting frequency on the cutting area is analyzed, and the optimum cutting frequency range at different operating speeds is determined. The results show that the error between the actual cutting frequency and the desired frequency of the cutter is less than 0.8Hz, and the maximum relative error is less than 8.6%; the average steady-state adjustment time of the system is 1.3s when the input cutting frequency of the device changes abruptly. The research class provides technical support for the improvement of the combine harvester handling system and the increase of the machine automation level.

DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING OF BED FORMER IMPLEMENT POWERED BY HAND TRACTORS

Soil tillage, like making raised beds, is time-consuming and labour-intensive if it is done without the help of mechanization. Therefore, this study aims to develop and test a bed former powered by a hand-tractor for upland. It was carried out in the experimental field (sandy clay loam texture) at a furrower depth of 15 cm and 20 cm with a tractor forward speed of 0.5 m/s. The bed's former design results have dimensions of length, width, and height of 1200x1000x 820 mm. The performance test results showed an increase in tillage depth resulted in increased bed height, bed width, bed width, and slip. However, field capacity decreases with increasing tillage depth. The bed former's performance was found to be satisfactory in general.

Development and Evaluation of Low-Damage Maize Snapping Mechanism Based on Deformation Energy Conversion

Reducing ear damage is the key to improving the quality of maize harvests. In order to reduce the impact and damage of the ear caused by the ear snapping mechanism, this paper proposes a method to convert ear deformation energy during collision into elastic potential energy in the ear snapping mechanism. According to the above method, a low-damage maize snapping mechanism was designed. In order to verify the feasibility of energy conversion in reducing damage, the dynamic model of the contact between the ear and the snapping plate was established, and a dynamic simulation analysis was carried out based on the finite element method (FEM). In order to obtain better parameters for the improved mechanism, a test rig was established, after which a performance test was carried out on the test rig. The results showed that the primary and secondary order that affected the ear damage rate was the rotational speed of the snapping roller, the spring stiffness and the forward speed. The data processing software Design Expert was used to optimize the parameters, it was concluded that when the rotational speed was 805 r·min−1, the forward speed was 1.29 m·s−1, the spring stiffness was 33.5 N·mm−1, the model predicted that the ear damage rate was 0.023%. Therefore, this paper could provide further reference for research into maize low-damage ear snapping technology.

SHIP MOTIONS DURING REPLENISHMENT AT SEA OPERATIONS IN HEAD SEAS

During replenishment at sea operations the interaction between the two vessels travelling side by side can cause significant motions in the smaller vessel and affect the relative separation between their replenishment points. A study into these motions has been conducted including theoretical predictions and model experiments. The model tests investigated the influence of supply ship displacement and longitudinal separation on the ships’ motions. The data obtained from the experimental study has been used to validate a theoretical ship motion prediction method based on a 3-D zero-speed Green function with a forward speed correction in the frequency domain. The results were also used to estimate the expected extreme roll angle of the receiving vessel, and the relative motion between the vessels, during replenishment at sea operations in a typical irregular seaway. A significant increase in the frigate’s roll response was found to occur with an increase of the supply ship displacement, whilst a reduction in motion for the receiving vessel resulted from an increase in longitudinal separation between the vessels. It is proposed that to determine the optimal vessel separation it is vital that the motions of the vessels are not considered in isolation and all motions need to be considered for both vessels simultaneously.

Characteristics of Storm Surge by Forward Speed of Typhoon in the South Coast of Korea

The damage caused by typhoons is gradually increasing due to the climate change recently. Hence, many studies have been conducted over a long period of time on various factors that determine the characteristics of storm surge, and most of relationships have been discovered. Because storm surge is complexly determined by various factors, it often show different results and draw different conclusions. For this reason, this study was conducted to understand the various characteristics of storm surge caused by changes in the forward speed of typhoons. This study was carried out with a numerical model, and the effect of forward speed could be analyzed by simplifying other factors as much as possible. When forward speed is increased, storm surges caused by typhoons tended to increase gradually. The storm surge showed a wide and gentle increase at a slow speed, but a narrow and steep one at a fast speed. In the case of the same forward speed, it was found that the storm surge was significantly influenced by the water depth of actual sea area. It was confirmed that the change in forward speed after passing Jeju Island did not significant affect on the storm surge in the south coast of Korea.

Applying the Response Surface Methodology (RSM) Approach to Predict the Tractive Performance of an Agricultural Tractor during Semi-Deep Tillage

This study aimed to evaluate the ability of the response surface methodology (RSM) approach to predict the tractive performance of an agricultural tractor during semi-deep tillage operations. The studied parameters of tractor performance, including slippage (S), drawbar power (DP) and traction efficiency (TE), were affected by two different types of tillage tool (paraplow and subsoiler), three different levels of operating depth (30, 40 and 50 cm), and four different levels of forward speed (1.8, 2.3, 2.9 and 3.5 km h−1). Tractors drove a vertical load at two levels (225 kg and no weight) in four replications, forming a total of 192 datapoints. Field test results showed that all variables except vertical load, and different combinations of this and other variables, were effective for the S, DP and TE. Increments in speed and depth resulted in an increase and decrease in S and TE, respectively. Additionally, the RSM approach displayed changes in slippage, drawbar power and traction efficiency, resulting from alterations in tine type, depth, speed and vertical load at 3D views, with high accuracy due to the graph’s surfaces, with many small pixels. The RSM model predicted the slippage as 6.75%, drawbar power as 2.23 kW and traction efficiency as 82.91% at the optimal state for the paraplow tine, with an operating depth of 30 cm, forward speed of 2.07 km h−1 and a vertical load of 0.01 kg.

Analysis of the Mechanism and Performance Optimization of Burying Weeding with a Self-Propelled Inter Row Weeder for Paddy Field Environments

To solve the problems of poor quality mechanical weeding and no obvious plowing effect in complex paddy field environments, the burying weeding operation mode was proposed. The height and force acting on the weeds were the main factors that altered the effectiveness of burying. The structure of the rake teeth weeding wheel was designed and matched with appropriate power, and the rake teeth weeding device was optimized. To verify the rationality of the designed device, the forward speed of the machine, rotating speed of the weeding wheels and weeding depth were selected as the experimental factors, and the inter row weeding rate was selected as the experimental index. A quadratic orthogonal rotation combination experiment with three factors and five levels was designed and optimized. The results showed that when the forward speed was 0.64 m/s, the rotational speed of the weeding wheel was 140 r/min, the weeding depth was 56.8 mm, the inter row weeding rate predicted by the model was 88.43%, and the inter row weeding rate was determined by a confirmatory experiment to be 87.06%, which met the weeding requirements for modern agronomy. To intuitively analyze how the soil was disturbed by the weeding wheel, the explicit dynamic analysis software LS-DYNA was used to build a fluid–solid coupling simulation model of the weeding wheel and water soil. The soil density and coupling stress were used to analyze the plowing state of paddy soil when the weeding wheel was operated. This study provides references for the design and development of paddy field weeding components and for mechanical and soil coupling simulation in paddy fields.