Theory of Vibrating Lifting Tools of Sugar Beet Harvesters

The cultivation and harvesting of sugar beets (roots and haulm) is one of the most labour and energy consuming work processes in the agricultural industry. The improvement of the qualitative indicators of the sugar beet harvesting process as the final operation in the work flow of its production represents a multi-faceted research-and-engineering problem, which is to be solved basing on the search for new implement design concepts and overall beet harvester design layouts, the thorough theoretical substantiation of their design and process parameters, the experimental verification of the completed theoretical research with the ultimate objective of the analysis and synthesis of their rational parameters. Theoretical research must play a fundamental role in the mechanical and technological substantiation of the root lifting process. It must be used as the basis for developing rational kinematic and dynamic operation conditions in order to achieve the required quality of the performed work process as well as the streamlined energy consumption. The book can be considered as one of the first solid analytical studies of the process of vibrational digging of sugar beet roots. It offers the analysis of up-to-date engineering solutions of vibrational digging tools and experimental investigations of the first vibrational lifters, the equation of oscillating motions of digging shares

The most complex theory of the symmetric impact of the vibrating digging working tool on the sugar beet root

When digging sugar beet root out of the soil by using a vibration digging working tools, there occur impact contacts of the working tools and sugar beet roots placed in the soil. Such phenomena are formed mainly in conditions of dry and solid soil. The consequence of this is a significant impact contact tails breaks, chips or damage of the side surfaces of roots, which leads ultimately to a non-return losses on sugar mass. Therefore there is a need to develop the basic provisions of the refined theory of impact interaction of a vibrating digging working tool with the body of the sugar beet root fixed in the soil, and on the basis of the results obtained to justify rational kinematic and structural parameters of advanced vibration digging working tool. Within the research there was used the methods of higher mathematics, theoretical mechanics, programming and numerical calculations on the PC. We have developed a refined theory of impact interaction of digging of the working body of the sugar beet harvester with the body of sugar beet root during vibratory digging of sugar beet roots from the dry and solid soil. On the basis of obtained equations and their numerical solution by PC programme it was possible to define the kinematic and structural parameters of vibration digging working tool that will ensure the conditions not to damage or break the tails of the sugar beet roots during their digging out from the dry and solid soil. We have investigated the so-called symmetric impact of the vibrating digging working body and the body of sugar beet root. As shown by calculations of the obtained theoretical dependencies and confirmed experimental studies, for the range of reduced masses of the vibrating excavating organ 0.8-2.0 kg, the translational velocity 1.3-2.2 m∙s–1, the depth in the soil 0.08-0.12 m and the vibration amplitude 0.008-0.024 m for shock interaction, which is most likely in dry and solid soil, the permissible oscillation frequency of scooping coulter is 10.0-18.0 Hz

Theory of the interaction of flat sensing organ with the head of the sugar beet root

Sugar beet leaves now are very widely used for livestock feeding, as an organic fertiliser, and also as a raw material for the production of biogas. Therefore the harvest of the sugar beet tops (including leaves) can be considered as current task for the sugar beet growing system. Modern technologies involve harvest of the tops of sugar beet in two stages: flat basic cut and collecting of the entire green mass at higher altitude and the subsequent cutting of the heads of root crops from the residues. Therefore, topical issues of the sensing of the heads of sugar beet roots arranged in rows, are related to the majority of the sugar beet toppers, cleaners of the sugar beet heads, leaves cutters and, digging up working bodies of some designs. The aim of this study is theoretical determination the optimum design and kinematic parameters of a new sensing mechanism of the sugar beet heads located in the soil on the basis of the theory of interaction of flat passive swath board sensing organ with the sugar beet heads during their topping when located in the soil. In the study there are used methods of creation of mathematical models of functioning of the agricultural machines and their working bodies with the using of main provisions of mathematics, theoretical mechanics, programming and numerical calculations on the PC. In this paper, there is presented a theoretical study of the interaction of passive sensing organ with the head of the sugar beet root when there are located residues of the leaves on a root head spherical surface in the form of short elastic rods. Thus, for such an interaction of the sensing organ and the head of sugar beet root head there is taken into account elastic-damping properties of the sugar beet leaves residues. In the study there was first of all developed a new design of the topper for sugar beet heads with the use of a flat swath board sensing organ, there was developed the equivalent scheme of the interaction of the sensing organ with a fixed sugar beet root head. There was also selected and arranged the axis of coordinates, and determined the active forces and angle parameters. Using the basic law of dynamics there was made up a new system of differential equations and the integration of which has made it possible to find the laws of variation of the speed of movement and of the movement of the flat passive sensing organ on the head of sugar beet root head at the beginning of the contact. After determining the initial values of force and design parameters it is possible to solve them on PC to optimise kinematic and structural parameters of the sensing mechanism

Mathematical Model of Uniform Cereal Crops Seeding Using a Double-Disk Coulter

The paper provided presents a new design of two-disk wide-row coulter that ensures uniform distribution of seeds to an even bed at the furrow bottom, as well as preserving of optimal distances between the seeds. Seeds fall from the seed tube of coil sowing apparatus onto a metal distribution plate with staggeringly arranged metal pins, which distribute the seeds to furrow bottom surface in a form of separate strips. To substantiate the kinematic and constructive parameters of proposed coulter design, a mathematical model for transport of seeds along the surface of a distribution plate was developed and the Cauchy problem for a system of the second-order quasi-linear differential equations was solved by the finite difference methods using embedded software procedures in mathematical software packages (Mathcad, Maple, etc.). The finite-difference method implementation was carried out using computer software allowing the determination of coordinates of seeds and, if necessary, changing of direction of their movement by adjusting the coulter operation to improve the distribution of seeds to soil in order to reduce the injury to them, which ultimately can contribute to an increased yield. Coverage of the plate surface and distribution pins with a rubber material can also contribute to a significant reduction in seed injury during sowing

Theoretical Studies of the Vibration Process of the Dryer for Waste of Food

An urgent problem is drying and processing of the wet dispersed waste, obtained in the production of food products, which can then be efficiently used as a fertiliser, for feeding livestock or as biofuel. A new design of a vibrating fluidised bed dryer has been developed, which, with low energy consumption, provides a pre-set productivity and the required final moisture content. The process of vertical oscillations of the body of a vibration dryer, together with the food waste contained in it, is analysed analytically, the necessary equivalent scheme is built, on the basis of which differential equations of the vertical oscillations of the body are compiled, their analytical solutions are obtained, and a numerical calculation is performed on a PC using the developed program. Rational parameters of the vibration dryer, providing vibroboiling of the mass of the food waste, have been determined: the body mass m = 250 ... 510 kg; the debalance mass md= 10… 15 kg; the number of revolutions of the debalance electric motor nd= 1950 ... 2650 rpm ∙ min∙1; maximum stiffness of the support springs Cp= 8∙105 N∙m–1; the diameter of the centre of mass of the debalances dd= 0.01 m. In addition, as a result of the thermophysical theoretical and experimental studies of the vibration drying process, the following optimal design and technological parameters of the vibration dryer were obtained: the heat transfer area St.p.n= 4.15 m2; the radius of the heating pipe rt= 0.1 m; the length of the heating pipe lt = 3 m; the number of heating pipes nt= 50; the heat transfer coefficient Kp= 2500; the final temperature of the dried waste to2= 100 ºС

A Study on the Drift of Spray Droplets Dipped in Airflows with Different Directions

The European Directive concerning pesticide sustainable use establishes regulations to reduce the environmental drift throughout treatments to agricultural crops, particularly in nearby sensitive areas, such as water bodies, natural reserves and urban areas. The drift represents the fraction of mixture delivered by the sprayer that is not caught by the crop, and is the clearest cause of environmental pollution. Anti-drift nozzles are usually employed, and buffer zones are also maintained along the edges of the sprayed field to reduce drift production. The aim of this work was the theoretical study of the motion of the spray droplets delivered by a nozzle, dipped in downwards and/or lateral forced air flows. A mathematical model has been developed, consisting of a system of 2nd order differential equations, to simulate the motion of water droplets of different diameters within simultaneous different directions of air flow. The graphs, obtained by means of the numerical solution of the model, allow us to analyze the level of the droplets’ drift, according to their diameter and to the speed of the lateral and the downward air flows, respectively. A lateral airflow at a speed of 5 m·s-1 produced a drift in its direction until 1.70 m for droplets from 100 to 500 micro in diameter. For larger drops, the impact of the downward airflow is not very significant. The results obtained by the numerical solution of the mathematical model have been compared with the results of experimental tests carried out to evaluate the drift of spray produced by different nozzles

Study of the Movement Dynamics of a Beet Leaves Harvester

High-quality cutting of beet heads during harvesting reduces the loss of sugar-bearing upper parts of root crops. One of the ways to ensure high quality cutting is to scientifically substantiate the parameters of the machine that harvests the sugar beet leaves; this machine is front-mounted on the tractor’s attachment mechanism. Theoretical calculations established the following. A front-mounted beet topper machine with damping coefficient and the moment of inertia parameters that vary from 0.35 to 1.35 kN s m−1 and from 3000 to 3500 kg m2, respectively, is invariant to the influence of external disturbances in the form of vertical vibrations of the field’s longitudinal profile. These vibrations vary in frequency from 0 to 40 s−1 according to the harmonic function. Setting the tyres stiffness coefficient value of the leaves harvester support-feeler wheels at 315 kN m−1 is characterized by a desirable decrease (up to 41.2%) of the dynamic system’s amplitude–frequency values characteristics when the system is subjected to an external disturbance. With this value of tyre stiffness coefficient, the tyre inflation pressure should not exceed 0.125 MPa

Theory of Movement of the Sugar Beet Tops in Loading Mechanism, Taking into Account the Influence of the Air Flow

A new design of the haulm harvester with an improved loading mechanism has been developed, which is made in the form of a centrifugal thrower that receives the entire volume of the cut sugar beet tops, as well as an unloading pipe, the end of which is at the level of the vehicle, moving beside the haulm harvester. To substantiate the rational parameters of this loading device, a mathematical model of the movement of a particle along the thrower blade and its exit from the blade was developed in order to simulate further movement along the inner surface of the cylindrical part of the casing and its straight part before entering the vehicle. The resulting differential equation for the movement of a haulm particle along the thrower blade takes into account the influence of the airflow created by the rotation of the thrower, the blades of which capture and accelerate the air in the closed space of the cylindrical casing. The indicated differential equation includes the basic design, kinematic, and power parameters affecting the flow of the studied loading process of the tops. The solution of these differential equations on a PC made it possible to obtain graphic dependencies, with the help of which the rational parameters of the working bodies of the loading mechanism of the haulm harvester were substantiated. As calculations show, an increase in the angular velocity of rotation of the thrower and the length of its blade leads to an increase in the absolute velocity of the haulm particle M from the end of the blade. Thus, by increasing the length of the thrower blade from 0.1 m to 0.35 m and its angular velocity from 10 s−1 to 40 s−1, the absolute velocity increases from 1.2 m s−1 to 16 m s−1. At an angular speed of rotation of the thrower equal to 10 s−1, an increase in the airflow velocity from 5 to 35 m s−1 leads to a smooth linear increase in the relative velocity of particle M, as it moves along the blade of 0.67 to 0.78 m s−1. For a higher angular velocity of rotation of the thrower, equal to 20 s−1, the growth curve of the relative velocity of particle M is more intense at an airflow velocity in the range from 5 to 25 m s−1, approaching the linear law at an airflow velocity of more than 25 m s−1. In this case, the relative velocity varies from 0.9 to 1.4 m s−1

Theoretical background research oscillation vibration at its root digging

В роботі проведені теоретичні дослідження поступальних коливань коренеплоду як твердого тіла у пружному середовищі разом з оточуючим ґрунтом, які надаються коренеплоду від вібраційного викопуючого робочого органу у повздовжньо-вертикальній площині. Складена система диференціальних рівнянь зазначеного коливального процесу, розв’язок якої дав можливості визначати амплітуди і частоти цих коливань, що забезпечують повне руйнування зв’язків коренеплоду з ґрунтом і створюють передумови для його остаточного вилучення. The task to develop the basic tenets of the theory of vibrations sugar beet roots as elastic bodies in an elastic environment and get them on the process parameters that provide neposhkodzhennya roots. The paper contains theoretical research translational vibrations beet root as a rigid body in an elastic medium, together with the surrounding soil, root crops betrayed by digging out the vibration of the working body in the longitudinal vertical plane. A system of differential equations of this oscillatory process, the solution of which made it possible to determine the amplitude and frequency of vibrations to ensure complete destruction of root relations with the soil and creates preconditions for its eventual recovery

Theoretical Study of the Motion of a Cut Sugar Beet Tops Particle along the Inner Surface of the Conveying and Unloading System of a Topping Machine

One of the most delicate operations in the sugar beet harvesting process is removing the tops from the heads of the root crops without any mechanical damages. The aim of this study is to improve the design of the conveying and unloading system of the sugar beet topper machine. In this paper, a mathematical model of the motion of a cut beet tops particle M, along the conveying and unloading system, has been developed to support the evaluation of kinematic and design parameters, depending on the rotational speed of the thrower blade, the air flow speed, the required ejection speed of particle M, and the position of the trailer that moves alongside the harvester. It has been established that increasing the speed Va of the top particle M, which has left the end of the blade of the thrower, leads to an increase in the arc coordinate S(t) of its movement along the cylindrical section of the casing. Within the range of the speed change from 4 m·s–1 to 8 m·s–1, the value of the arc coordinate S(t) increases by 1.4 times during time t = 0.006 s. Moreover, a rapid decrease in speed V is observed with an increase in the length x of the discharge chute