Revealing Changes in the Technical Parameters of the Teat Cup Liners of Milking Machines During Testing and Production Conditions

To implement effective cow milking, it is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of the milk flow process, the milking machine's adaptability to perform the given technological functions. The aim of research is to establish changes in the design and technological parameters and physical and mechanical properties of teat cup liner of milking machines during its testing and in production conditions. The results obtained will make it possible to make a rational choice of rubber, ensure an efficient milking process during its service life. It is found that the tensile strength of silicone teat cup liner at the beginning of operation was 1.6 times higher than that of a rubber compound, and after 6 months. operation – 1.7 times. With respect to the relative elongation, this difference was 1.4 times, and after operating time – 1.3 times. Studies have proven that rubber during operation changes its physical and mechanical properties: the length of the active part increased by 3.1 mm; wall thickness – 0.2 mm. It is found that the most intensively elastic properties of teat cup liner changed during the first 10–20 days. After 10 days, the closing vacuum increased by 16.6 % compared to the initial one, and after 20 days by 23.3 %, which amounted to 8.57 and 9.06 kPa, respectively. Up to 420 hours of operation, the clamping vacuum reached 11.3 kPa, which is 5.8 % lower than the requirements for toughening teat cup liner for rejection. In general, over the period of experiments, the average value of the vacuum of closing the opposite walls of teat cup liner increased from 7.35 to 12.43 kPa, which is 3.6 % higher than the norm (12 kPa). As a result of experimental studies, the regularity of the rubber tension force depending on the operating time in the form of a fourth degree polynomial is obtained. It is found that after 150 hours of operation, the tensile force of teat cup liner decreased by 21 

Improving the Algorithm of Choosing Spacing and Number of Stiff Supports Against A Concentrated Force in Steel-concrete Beams

A steel-concrete beam was taken as the study object. The algorithm of selecting the number of stiff supports for the steel-concrete beam loaded with a concentrated lateral force in the middle of the span has been refined. Stiff supports served to join the steel strip with concrete to ensure their joint performance. The algorithm was refined based on the condition of equality of the longitudinal force in the steel strip from the action of the calculated load and the maximum longitudinal force obtained after setting the supports. In this case, the longitudinal forces in all stiff supports, as well as the spacing of the stiff supports should be the same. A disadvantage of the known algorithm consists in the complexity of determining the coefficient φb2 taking into account the effect of long-term concrete creep on the element deformation without cracks. This coefficient fluctuates widely and depends on many factors. Besides, it is also insufficiently studied. Calculations for determining the number and spacing of stiff supports in a steel-concrete beam were conducted according to the proposed algorithm and in the Lira software package. The forces acting on the supports and spacing of the supports were the same. The force acting in the support was 8941.5 N. When selecting characteristics of the steel-concrete beam, maximum longitudinal force in the steel strip was obtained. The longitudinal force amounted to 35726 N. The same longitudinal force was obtained from the diagram of longitudinal forces obtained after setting the supports. This study was aimed at improving the design of steel-concrete beams. A rational number and placement of stiff supports ensure savings: the required amount of building materials is reduced and their cost is reduced due to cutting labor costs for their manufacture and operatio