Benchmark of an intelligent fuzzy calculator for admissible estimation of drawbar pull supplied by mechanical front wheel drive tractor

Abstract

This paper proposes a calculator for estimation of drawbar pull supplied by mechanical front wheel drive tractor based on nominal input variable of tractor driving mode in two-wheel drive (2WD) and four-wheel drive (4WD), and numeral input variables of tractor weight (53.04–78.45 kN) and slip of driving wheels (1.4–15.1%) utilizing intelligent fuzzy systems. The systems were developed by means of various input membership functions, output membership functions, defuzzification methods, and training cycles. The prominent developed system for estimation of the drawbar pull yielded a user-friendly intelligent fuzzy calculator with admissible accuracy (coefficient of determination = 0.993). Data obtained from the calculator revealed increasing nonlinear trend of the drawbar pull in range of 12.9–57.5 kN as concurrent augment of slip of the wheels and tractor weight, for 2WD mode. In case of the 4WD mode, it nonlinearly raised from 12.8 to 77.7 kN. Therefore, effect of the slip and weight on the drawbar pull was found synergetic. Moreover, the drawbar pull ranges elucidated that the drawbar pull proliferated as the 4WD mode was employed rather than the 2WD mode. Generally, benchmark of the prominent developed intelligent fuzzy system, not only provide simple calculator with the widest applicability for different tractor models, but also produces added values in enrichment of realization level in domain of tractor drawbar pull concepts.

Keywords

• Drawbar power
• Drawbar pull
• Power efficiency
• Wheel slip
• Gross traction force