Study on Plant Crushing and Soil Throwing Performance of Bionic Rotary Blades in <i>Cyperus esculentus</i> Harvesting

Hao Zhu; Dongwei Wang; Xiaoning He; Shuqi Shang; Zhuang Zhao; Haiqing Wang; Ying Tan; Yanxin Shi

doi:10.3390/machines10070562

Machines (Jul 2022)

Study on Plant Crushing and Soil Throwing Performance of Bionic Rotary Blades in <i>Cyperus esculentus</i> Harvesting

Hao Zhu,
Dongwei Wang,
Xiaoning He,
Shuqi Shang,
Zhuang Zhao,
Haiqing Wang,
Ying Tan,
Yanxin Shi

Affiliations

Hao Zhu: College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, China
Dongwei Wang: College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, China
Xiaoning He: College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, China
Shuqi Shang: College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, China
Zhuang Zhao: College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, China
Haiqing Wang: College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, China
Ying Tan: College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, China
Yanxin Shi: College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266109, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/machines10070562
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 10, no. 7
p. 562

Abstract

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Soil blocking and plant entanglement are the main challenges in Cyperus esculentus harvesting and excavating. The structure of the rotary blade is one of the critical factors affecting plant crushing and soil throwing performance. Inspired by the composite motion of longitudinal soil cutting and lateral soil throwing of the oriental mole cricket, a bionic rotary blade was designed with the contour curve of the excavation edge and excavation surface of its forefoot claw toe. The bionic rotary blade’s mechanical and kinematic analysis revealed its cutting mechanism. A flexible plant soil, bionic, rotary blade discrete element model was developed to simulate the Cyperus esculentus digging process. The optimal excavation edge and excavation surface were selected by a single factor experiment, and the optimal operating parameters of the bionic rotary blade were obtained by quadratic regression orthogonal rotational combination design. The results showed that the bionic rotary blade, based on the excavation edge and excavation surface of mole cricket first claw toe, had the longest throwing distance and the largest number of broken bonds. The best combination of operating parameters of the bionic rotary blade was 11.16 mm for blade spacing, 0.66 m/s for forward speed, and 300 rpm for shaft speed. The field experiment was carried out according to the best parameters. The results showed that the bionic rotary blade’s average soil throwing distance and plant crushing rate were 632.30 mm and 81.55%, respectively; thereby, not only meeting the requirements of Cyperus esculentus harvesting, but proving superior to the operation performance of the Chinese standard rotary blade IT245 and rotary blade with optimized cutting edge (IT245P). The results of this study can provide bionic design ideas and methods for the design of soil-cutting-based tillage machinery’s soil-engaging components, such as the rotary blade and returning blade.

Published in Machines

ISSN: 2075-1702 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Technology: Mechanical engineering and machinery
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/machines

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