The Canadian Society for Bioengineering La Société Canadienne de Génie Agroalimentaire et de Bioingénierie Isolating the effect of material properties in the wear of soil engaging tools

Abstract. The processes by which wear can occur on a tillage tool include abrasion, impact, fretting and chemical action. Of these, abrasion typically dominates but rarely do these processes act independently. It is because of the variable nature of wear in tillage settings and the number of factors which influence tool wear that prediction and comparison of wear performance are difficult. The application of discrete element modeling (DEM) may provide the opportunity to simulate wear conditions to allow accurate tool life prediction. The role of tool material in wear performance was isolated using a lab experiment while maintaining a typical soil-tool interaction from a practical field scenario. Changes in the profile of soil-engaging tools, as a function of distance travelled and material type, were explored. Cylindrical bars of 6061 aluminum and 1018 steel were pulled through a sandy soil under controlled and consistent operating conditions. Wear was documented using a coordinate measuring machine (CMM) capable of detecting differences in cylinder radius on the order of 0.001 mm. The purpose of this study was to create a set of data which could be used comparatively in further study of computer simulated wear. The wear rates and profiles of the different bars are presented and compared