Design, construction, and agrotechnical evaluation of a vibratory furrow opening tool for minimum tillage planters.

Minimum tillage practices enhance conservation of soil and moisture resources and reduce the mechanical and labor energy inputs required for crop production. However, obtaining crop stands which are comparable to those established by conventional tillage methods has been difficult with minimum tillage equipment. Also, draft force require-ments for minimum tillage systems are substantial, particularly when the system is operated under conditions where adequate soil penetration can be achieved only by adding weight to the machine. In an attempt to overcome these problems, an experimental vibratory furrow opening tool was designed for use with a minimum tillage planter system. The vibratory opener was selected because of reports that vibratory tillage tools can reduce draft force requirements and increase soil fragmentation. A one-row planter system using the vibratory opener and commercial seed metering and covering components was designed and constructed. The machine was field tested in chemically killed sod on two soil types at The University of Tennessee Plant Science Farm. The vibratory opener was operated at frequencies of 10, 20, and 30 Hz with amplitudes of 6 and 15 mm (0.236 and 0.590 inches). Two soil-contacting tools with lift angles of 25 and 45 degrees were tested. The performance of the vibra-tory system was compared with that of a conventional system using a fluted coulter furrow opener. The tillage accomplished by each treat-ment combination was determined by measuring the change in soil bulk density and by determining the mean weight clod diameter. Energy inputs to the systems were monitored by measuring both the draft force and the torque input to the oscillator mechanism. Seed emergence ratio was used to indicate stand establishment ability of the systems. The vibratory tool reduced draft force while requiring no increase in total power consumption. Changes in soil bulk density were greater and mean weight clod diameter values were smaller for the vibratory tool. The vibratory tool readily penetrated the soil, whereas up to 180 kg (400 lbs) of additional weight were added to the machine to achieve adequate soil penetration with the fluted coulter. Mean seed emergence ratio values for all treatments in the Etowah silt loam and Sequatchie loam were about 0.76 and 0.87, respectively. The 25-deg blade oscillating at a frequency of 20 Hz with an amplitude of 6 mm (0.236 inches) produced the greatest change in soil bulk density while requiring the smallest draft force and least total operating power. The 45-deg tool oscillating at 30 Hz with an amplitude of 6 mm (0.236 inches) produced the smallest mean weight clod diameter values and the highest seed emergence ratio. However, the values of these various response variables for the two particular treatment combinations were not statistically different from corresponding values of some other treatments

Agricultural Structures and Mechanization

In our globalized world, the need to produce quality and safe food has increased exponentially in recent decades to meet the growing demands of the world population. This expectation is being met by acting at multiple levels, but mainly through the introduction of new technologies in the agricultural and agri-food sectors. In this context, agricultural, livestock, agro-industrial buildings, and agrarian infrastructure are being built on the basis of a sophisticated design that integrates environmental, landscape, and occupational safety, new construction materials, new facilities, and mechanization with state-of-the-art automatic systems, using calculation models and computer programs. It is necessary to promote research and dissemination of results in the field of mechanization and agricultural structures, specifically with regard to farm building and rural landscape, land and water use and environment, power and machinery, information systems and precision farming, processing and post-harvest technology and logistics, energy and non-food production technology, systems engineering and management, and fruit and vegetable cultivation systems. This Special Issue focuses on the role that mechanization and agricultural structures play in the production of high-quality food and continuously over time. For this reason, it publishes highly interdisciplinary quality studies from disparate research fields including agriculture, engineering design, calculation and modeling, landscaping, environmentalism, and even ergonomics and occupational risk prevention

Using similitude theory and discrete element modeling to understand the effects of digging parameters on excavation performance for rubber tire loaders

The large sizes of mining equipment pose challenges for analysis using experiments or simulation. While scaled physical and simulation models can address this challenge, no previous work has explored how similitude theory and modeling can provide valid analysis of large equipment such as rubber tire loaders. The objective of this research was to apply similitude theory and discrete element modeling (DEM) to study the effect of different digging parameters on the penetration and the draft on the buckets of rubber tire loaders. The work sought to (1) test the hypothesis that the geometry of a rubber tire loader bucket and operating conditions significantly affects the resistive force (draft) and penetration; (2) test the hypothesis that different geometry orientations and operating conditions of a rubber tire loader bucket significantly affects draft and penetration; (3) apply DEM to scale models of rubber tire loader buckets to understand the effect of bucket geometry, orientations, and operating conditions on draft and penetration; and (4) evaluate the effectiveness of using discrete element models and similitude theory to predict draft and penetration. The results show that geometry, muckpile particle sizes, height above the floor, rake angle, speed, and motor power output are correlated to penetration and draft. This work has demonstrated that we can build valid DEM models for predicting at a larger scale. The chamfer angle of semi-spade bucket cutting blades significantly affects the draft on the buckets and 30° chamfer cut angle performs the best with the lowest peak resistive forces and energy consumption. The work finds that the forces observed during the rotation phase of the simulation are lower than the observed forces during penetration --Abstract, page iii

Proceedings of the European Conference on Agricultural Engineering AgEng2021

This proceedings book results from the AgEng2021 Agricultural Engineering Conference under auspices of the European Society of Agricultural Engineers, held in an online format based on the University of Évora, Portugal, from 4 to 8 July 2021. This book contains the full papers of a selection of abstracts that were the base for the oral presentations and posters presented at the conference. Presentations were distributed in eleven thematic areas: Artificial Intelligence, data processing and management; Automation, robotics and sensor technology; Circular Economy; Education and Rural development; Energy and bioenergy; Integrated and sustainable Farming systems; New application technologies and mechanisation; Post-harvest technologies; Smart farming / Precision agriculture; Soil, land and water engineering; Sustainable production in Farm buildings