INMATEH - Agricultural Engineering

6

Authors: Cardei P., Muraru V., Constantin N., Muraru C., Cilan T., Hodre C.D., Matache M.

Inspiration for investigations described in this article was to explain the differences between a cultivator and a vibro-cultivator. Starting from the basic model of linear of damped oscillator, the authors complicate the equations and specify or enrich some terms meanings entering the specific terms of agricultural machinery for soil works. First, these models attempt to explain the oscillating behaviour of working bodies in different operating modes of agricultural machinery. Subsequently, the practical application will consist in the control of these vibrations, using adjustable parameters of working processes. Furthermore, this simulator is useful for theoretical study of the behaviour of an active part in presence of friction and nonlinear damping, and also of complex phenomena including the equation of motion of the unit.

6

Authors: Veringă D., Vintilă M., Popa L., Ştefan V, Petcu A.S.

Paper presents an experimental method of determining the static compression relaxation time of Idared apples variety, by preserving their integrity. Using the yield test by taking into account the viscous and elastic behaviour of the bodies described by physical rheological model of Burgers body made of elastic and viscous linear elements, the method theoretical groundwork was emphasized. A mathematical model and the suitable rheological equation describing the apples behaviour at steady static strain, has been found. Theoretical relations and experimental data are useful for evaluating (predicting) the storing time in packages which height is known.

6

Authors: Orăşanu N., Dragomirescu C.

The paper analyses the bending vibrations of a plow blade, modeled as a variable cross section beam, clamped at one end and free at the other. The study is performed by using the discretization method, while the differential equations of the free vibrations are deduced by means of the influence coefficients method.

8

Authors: Mingjin Yang, Po Niu, Bin Peng, Ling Yang, Yunwu Li, Xiaobing Chen, Zhuomin Peng

Handheld tillers are the main tilling machinery in hilly areas, with rotavators as the main tilling parts of the machines. The soil move, soil-cutting force and power consumption, accompanying the tilling process, are crucial to the performance of a handheld tiller. In this study, rotavators were chosen as a case study, and soil-cutting model of the rotavators was built and solved, by Finite Element Method (FEM), for the soil-cutting performance analysis, and the effectiveness of the analysis was validated as well, which will benefit and provide reference for design, optimization, and performance match of the handheld tillers. The results showed that: 1) during tilling process, particles of the top layer soil get the highest velocity and acceleration, and velocity and acceleration of middle layer and bottom layer particles decrease sequentially; 2) soil-cutting force of the rotavators increases to a maximum, and it gradually decreases to reach a relatively stable status with a certain fluctuation; 3) power consumption, combination of kinetic power and internal power, is mainly consumed by means of internal energy, and the ratio of kinetic power and internal power is 1: 9.5.

8

Authors: Kirchuk R., Tsiz I., Tsiz K.

One of the methods to intensify the process of drying soybean seeds is to increase the contact area of the drying agent with the material being dried. This result is achieved with the unit for pre-conditioning of the material to dry (patent № 87184, Ukraine). The experimental device is made in order to investigate the influence of structural parameters of this unit on seed coat deformation. The aim is to study the influence of the seed area deformation coefficient k on speed of the soybean drying process. The article provides two mathematical models enabling to set the time it takes to reach conditional moisture content of soybean seeds in the drying chamber with the preliminary deformation of the seed coat in the unit for pre-conditioning of the seeds before drying. These models take into account the following parameters: 1- the initial moisture content of seeds, quantity of seeds in the loading hopper and geometric parameters of the device (number of blades on the disk, the angular velocity of the disk), 2 - original material moisture content, temperature and velocity of the drying agent. The calculation is made and the curves are obtained providing the following characteristics (at different initial parameters): 1- coefficient of the seed coat area deformation k while passing the material through the device to its preconditioning stage; 2 - change of soybean seeds drying speed with a certain coefficient k while drying in a drying unit. The analysis of the results showed that the coefficient k of seed coat area deformation significantly affects the rate of moisture content removal from soybean seeds and confirmed the feasibility of preconditioning of the material before drying in this way in order to intensify the process. Also, the proposed mathematical model allows to establish rational design parameters of the developed device.

8

Authors: Huihui Wang, Shiyuan Xing, YuansongZheng, Weiwei Gu, Yan Lv, Jixin Yang

The precious sea foods are rich in nutrients and have fairly high commercial values. The appearance quality is an important criterion for assessing their commercial values. Currently, the assessment of the precious sea food appearance quality mainly depends on manual detections on its body size and colour, with great labour intensity and strong subjectivity. In this article, using the sea cucumber and abalone, two typical precious sea foods, as the research objects, a vision detection system was established. Because of the big differences between sea cucumber and abalone, according to typical body size characteristics, the targeted non-destructive testing methods based on computer vision technology were proposed. In the previous studies, the detection accuracy using the enclosing rectangle method was not high and the thorns on sea cucumbers imposed severe effects on the detection results. To solve these problems, the neighbourhood comparison method was proposed, so that an accurate and non-contact measurement of the long-axis and short-axis sizes of the sea cucumber body except thorns can be achieved. With the actually measured values as the standards, the average detection errors of long-axis and short-axis sizes are +2.10 and +1.61mm, respectively. According to the habits in manual detection for abalones, the area and perimeter of the Region of Interest (ROI) in the abalone image were adopted as the detection characteristics, and thus the rapid abalone shape detection can be realized. By contrast with the clustering results using the estimated values, it can be concluded that the proposed detection method can be applicable to the practical production, detection and grading of abalone, algorithm detection rate can be up to 14 abalones per second.

8

Authors: Hewko B.M., Popovich P.V., Diachun A.Y., Lyashuk O.L., Liubachivskyi R.O.

Based on the equation of motion in a screw conveyor-mixer, the kinematics of bulk material is researched. The motion of bulk material in medium speed operation mode of screw conveyor-mixer is analyzed in details. The technique of determining the nature of loading the screw conveyor elements is developed. The analytical dependences for determining the speed change of the given bulk material volume in relation to a casing in medium speed mode of conveyor while mixing the bulk material are developed. This technique can be widely used for designing the screw transport and technological systems

10

Authors: Feng Zi-ming, Fang Xin, Gao Qiming, Ding Huanhuan

According to the agriculture sewage in the process of filtering impurity, medium pressure drop is not allowed to exceed 0.02MPa requirements. Using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technology to study the porosity of bag filter, the inlet velocity of filter and the agriculture sewage viscosity change, which influence the pressure drop. The calculation results show that the higher the porosity, the higher outlet back-pressure and the agriculture sewage viscosity is higher，so when it flows through the filter, its pressure drop is higher. CFD technology can replace a part experimental study and it can provide guidance for the filter bag selection and replacement.

10

Authors: Liang Dong, Quan Quan, Bing Shen, Wan Luo, Qinger Jung

To study the variation law of key components for water-salt balance of typical farmland in the central Shaanxi Plain, this paper calibrated and verified the SWAP model based on a field trial of summer maize growing season from 2013 to 2014. Variations of different components during different summer maize growth stages were analyzed and discussed according to the calculated results of water-salt balance by the verified SWAP model. Results showed that the calibrated and verified SWAP model could well simulate dynamic variation laws of water-salt content of different soil layers in the study area. Within the study period, transpiration of maize in 2013 and 2014 was restricted by water content in the surface layer. The accumulative actual transpiration accounted for 57.6% and 64.9% of potential transpiration, respectively. Soil water supply from underground water was mainly in the vigorous growth of maize. The accumulative underground water supplies in 2013 and 2014 were 10.3cm and 7.4cm, respectively. Water flux at bottom soil was highly sensitive to rainfall and irrigation, presenting the obvious deep leakage. The soil salinity changes at 0~120cm layer in 2013 and 2014 were -72.87 mg/cm2 and -81.32mg/cm2, respectively. Great desalination was observed in the rainy season of maize growth.

12

Authors: Yunguang Li, Jinzhu Zhang, Zhenhua Wang, Wenhao Li, Haoliang Yu

The feasibility of using liquid films as substitute to plastic films and the combination of liquid film mulching technique and drip irrigation were investigated to explore a solution to the increasingly serious white pollution induced by agricultural film residues in cotton fields in arid areas. With the adoption of bucket tests, five different mulching treatments (liquid film 1900 kg/hm2, LFD1; liquid film 2200 kg/hm2, LFD2; liquid film 2500 kg/hm2, LFD3; ordinary plastic film, PFD; in bare soil, NFD) were performed on the cotton plants, and the effects of different treatments on soil moisture and temperature, as well as the growth of cotton plants and roots, were monitored and analyzed. The results indicate that liquid film spraying can promote the growth of cotton roots and affect the growth and development of cotton plant. In particular, the squaring stage was 2–5 days earlier with liquid film than that in bare land, and the yields were increased by 7.1%–14.39%. Compared with the results on the use of plastic films, soil evaporation were increased by 1.85%–6.90%; the ground temperature at 5 cm was reduced by 1°C, with a decreasing ratio of 2.5%–7.7%; the decreasing ratios of the ground temperature at 10 cm soil depth were 3.0%–6.4%; the growth stages were 1–2 days later; the yield was only reduced by 0.11%. The amount of liquid film (not less than 2500 kg/hm2) combined with the drip irrigation and plastic mulch film of cotton with drip irrigation is a water-saving and yield-increasing effect compared with the NFD, with liquid film can be degradable; hence, the proposed technique can be used in numerous applications because of these non-pollution characteristics. With the urgent need to protect the agricultural ecological environment and to conserve agricultural water, the use of liquid film can be improved on the basis of sustainable and efficient agricultural development.

6

Authors: Bundza O.Z., Kravets S.V., Nalobina О.O.,Nikitin V.G.

The work deals with the results of theoretical research of the process of interaction of the couplant equipment with the plants. The equations for calculating the cutting height and the drum position respective to the cut plants were developed within the present work.

6

Authors: Hevko R.B., Zalutskyi S.Z., Tkachenko I.G., Klendiy O.M.

The analysis of known reciprocating screw working parts with flexible helical surfaces and screw conveyer operation has been carried out. A new structure of reciprocating screw with flexible helical surface and its manufacturing method have been proposed. The bench has been developed and manufactured for conduction of experimental researches. Experimental findings have been provided considering the definition of influence on the value of flexible sheet deformation, its width and cantilevered cog size as well as comparative results of grain material destruction degree with rigid and flexible reciprocating screw working surfaces.

8

Authors: Ciupercă R., Lazăr G., Popa L., Nedelcu A., Ştefan V., Zaica A., Petcu A.

The paper presents some theoretical and practical considerations related to environmental management of plant and animal waste by aerobic composting, this being the most effective way of treating waste from agricultural activities. Treatment of this waste by composting having a deep impact both economically, on one hand, compost being a very good and valuable organic fertilizer used in crop production, greenhouses and solariums and on the environment, on the other hand, by reducing the impact on main negative environmental factors (air, water, soil). Basically, four methods of composting are known, classified by location and aeration method, as follows: - passive open composting heap; - stack composting in the platform with the use of technical reshuffling equipment for ventilation; - composting in aerated static stacks, using the culverts or pipes; - composting in container. Ecological waste management system, subject of this paper, uses static stacks method, using an aeration system consisting of culverts and pipes, integrated in composting platform, and aeration system is powered by a photovoltaic system.

8

Authors: Storozhuk I.M., Pankiv V.R.

In this work it is presented the description of technological process of the improved machine for cutting haulm at root crops and the results of experimental research of beets haulm with three constructions of the cutter. The research it was made for three re-cutting constructions conducted on the principle of "passive knife-copier".

8

Authors: Che Lei, Sun Wenlei, Chao Yongsheng, Huang Yong, Weng Yuting

In order to solve the remanufacturing and repairing of universal joint in agricultural vehicles against surface peeling and evident indentation, laser cladding technology was applied to prepare Fe 314 alloy cladding layer on the journal surface of the universal joint. Metallographic structure of the cladding layer was observed with metalloscope and its hardness was tested by Vickers hardness tester. Moreover, a finite element model of the universal joint load in agricultural vehicles was established. After load and boundary constraint were applied, the cloud chart of displacement changes before and after the cladding was concluded. The universal joint repaired through laser cladding was installed onto agricultural vehicles, presenting no surface peeling and cracking more than eight months later. Test results demonstrated that the cladding layer combines with the substrate well and the hardness of the universal joint improves from 170HV0.025 to 560HV0.025. Abrasive resistance of the cladding position is improved significantly and the displacement decreases by 10.8% compared to that before cladding. Laser cladding could improve performances of the universal joint and prolong its service life.

8

Authors: Xiaoning Zhu, Rui Yan, Hongli Wang

Harvesting scheduling operations and allocations are very important for the agricultural machinery owners and the farmers regarding to finish the harvesting work. Most of the machinery owners schedule their farm machinery by experience, which is a big waste of the agriculture resources. This paper is an attempt to schedule the agricultural machinery for the machinery resource centers under multi-farmland, multi-type machinery situation with time window constrain in order to maximize efficiency of resource utilization. A novel modelling method with improved genetic algorithm is presented. An empirical study of an agricultural machinery association in Hebei province in China is illustrated and the results show that the models and the scheduling algorithm proposed in this study can improve agricultural utilization of the farm machinery resource centers and reduce the costs of agricultural machinery usage.

10

Authors: Niţu (Roşu) M., Vlăduţ V., Matache M., Vlad C.

Within the spraying process, the compact jet of solution coming from a limited space, namely the nozzle body or spraying device, is transformed in droplets by liquid dispersion in space, under a certain angle, at a speed able to defeat the internal cohesion forces of liquid dispersed. The jet spraying angle is the angle of cone formed from the tangents to jet contour, which intersect in the nozzle hole. The spraying angle and jet penetration represent the liquid distribution on spraying surface. The spraying angle mostly depends on type and size of the duzzle. Pressure of liquid has a significant effect on size of spraying angle. Within this paper, a mathematical model characterizing the sprayers’nozzle jet angle depending on working process parameters, is presented.

10

Authors: Ingeaua M., Prisecaru T., Pirna I., Sorică C.

Fruits and vegetables play an important role in human nutrition providing vitamins, minerals, fibers and essential nutrients. In order to prolong the marketing of these products and ensure nutrients throughout the year, preservation by different methods of fruit and vegetables is necessary. Dehydration is one of the oldest forms of conservation of fruits and vegetables and is used in order to reduce both the water content of the product and thus the activity of microorganisms and their multiplication, and the mass and volume of products, the costs of packaging, storage and transport. This paper aims analyze a convective drying process of plums, in order to identify opportunities for the energy consumption optimization process through monitoring and controlling essential parameters like: temperature, relative humidity and air velocity, as well as automatic control algorithms of the dehydration process.

10

Authors: LI Yanbin, LI Jia, You Feng, Zhang Zezhong

The paper established the model of agricultural drought disaster risk evaluation and assessment index system, defined disaster risk threshold value by using the grey correlation, analytic hierarchy process (AHP), weighted synthesis method, natural hazards index method and Fisher optimal partitioning method in the case of Xiuwen, Rongjian, Yinjiang, Meitan,Nayong and Xingren County in Guizhou province. Considering factors of natural, social economic, hazard of disaster-causing factors, the exposure and vulnerability of hazard bearing body and drought resistance ability, guided by theory of meteorology, agricultural science, disaster science, natural disaster risk science and other multi-disciplinary theories, scientific of the model is verified by relevance analysis of crop yield losses estimated on the base of agricultural drought disaster temporal series and drought disaster risk index. The result can provide directions and guidance for drought forecast and risk management in Guizhou province and the similar area.

12

Authors: Lin Hanhui, Cai Ken, Zeng Zhaofeng

Intelligent agricultural machinery is a key component in developing precise and intellectual agriculture. However, achieving the accurate operation of intellectual agricultural equipment depends on precisely sensing the field position. This study adopts built-in technology and integrates wireless communication and Global Positioning System (GPS) stand-alone positioning to obtain low-cost and high-precision positioning in production. Information collection and transmission by the low-cost agricultural machinery are realized to implement overall management, monitoring, and scheduling. Test results show that the measured and actual errors can be stabilized to less than 3%, and the accurate position of an agricultural vehicle can be obtained. The system exhibits good expandability, functional implementation, and stable performance. It is significantly useful in engineering applications

6

Authors: Dumitraşcu A., Manea D., Căsăndroiu T.

The quality of phytosanitary treatments performed in crops is largely determined by how substances are sprayed on the plant, by the droplets size, the coverage of the plant and the reduction of drift phenomenon. The main elements responsible for the quality of working process of phytosanitary treatment machines are the nozzles, which are the principal elements of any sprayers. This explains the great variety of spraying systems. In this paper are detailed some theoretical issues regarding the spraying process through nozzles as the basis for experiments to be carried out using the machine for high precision application of phytosanitary treatments in orchards, MSL. Analysis and modeling of this process is achieved using as main working instrument the dimensional analysis theory.

6

Authors: Paraschiv G., Manole C.

The paper explains, on the basis of the minimum power principle, the phenomenon of layering a mixture of material particles (especially seeds of cereals) maintained under an oscillating motion, with or without the action of an air stream. This phenomenon of separation into fractions is also generalized on a mass of particles with the same specific weight, but with different sizes, an untreated aspect, in this form, in the specific literature.

6

Authors: Marcos V. G. Silva, Celina de Almeida, Antonio Carlos Loureiro Lino, Inácio M. D. Fabbro

Three-dimensional survey of irregular, as well as regular solids has recently received significant attention from the scientific community due to its wide range of applications, including topics in agricultural engineering as plant-machine mechanical relationship. The pertinent literature discloses several methods and techniques to carry out three- dimensional measurements associated to a wide variety of cases. Moiré techniques are included in a group of non-contact and non-destructive methods based on the Moiré phenomena which generate optical fringes onto the tested body surface. Moiré methods require simple and low cost experimental setup, yielding accurate results when compared to other measuring systems. This work was focused on the projection Moiré technique with phase shift, employing two types of optical grids named Ronchi and a sinusoidal one. Metrological errors of tested techniques as compared with the Moiré method have been determined as well. This work demonstrated the best performance of grid frequency variation through several experiments applied to irregular solids shape determination as fruits. Body volumes were compared with conventional techniques as water immersion; meanwhile linear measures were compared with reading caliper results. The application of free software such as ImageJ, RisingSun Moire, Scilab / SIP and routines was considered very useful to reach the final results.

8

Authors: Ganeva D., Sirakov K., Mihov M., Zahariev S., Ivan Palov

The study has found a continuing beneficial impact of electromagnetic treatments on seeds of Bulgarian tomato varieties: Milyana, Plovdivska karotina, Vodoley F1, IZK Alya and Ideal after 365 days storage to sowing at a voltage between the electrodes U=12 kV and duration of impact =35 s. The germinating energy and laboratory germination increase compared to that of control seeds of 1.25 to 15%.

8

Authors: Lyashuk O.L., Rogatynsky O.R., Serilko D.L.

A mathematical model of the vertical screw conveyer loading has been proposed. Algorithm of solution of the differential equations with partial derivatives of the bulk-cargo medium movement in the screw channel has been developed. Taking advantage of the proposed model it makes possible to develop new designs of the screw conveyer intake devices and to interpret their efficient parameters.

8

Authors: Moiceanu G., Voicu Gh., Paraschiv G., Dinca M., Chitoiu M., Vlădut V.

An important component of modern society is represented by renewable energy. This type of energy can be obtained through energetic plant processing, wind energy, solar energy, etc. Taking into consideration the potential of energetic plants regarding ensuring a sustainable future from an energetic point of view, this paper presents a review on the way in which mechanical properties influence the processing stage. Considering that the equipment used for this process is in continuing development, knowing the energetic plant stem mechanical properties is a major component in creating and developing these machines. Energetic plant mechanical properties are important data for mathematical modelling of the processes to which the stems are subjected to. Studying shearing resistance, compression/stretching resistance, cutting resistance, as well as the elasticity module, we can see that all the data lead to creating an adequate design for the equipment. The main objective of this paper is to create a synthesis regarding energetic plant mechanical properties.

10

Authors: GuohaiZhang, Ruicheng Du, Peisong Diao, Duanyang Geng

An ecological soil planting method was proposed for the annual double cropping of wheat and maize with a five-year cycle. This method is suitable for Huang-Huai-Hai Region and aims to address the problems of reduced crop yield and soil crust as a result of soil and water loss, deteriorated land fertility, and protective tillage in intensive cultivation. Moreover, the planting specifications of the annual double-cropping rotation patterns of wheat and maize were unified, and the key agricultural equipment was designed for full mechanization. Research results on the test demonstration base showed that the return of straw to the field and scientific fertilization can limit the emissions of harmful gas and the use of fertilizer. Furthermore, these steps can enhance ecological agricultural production. The return of straw to the field and suitable cultivation can increase the content of organic matters in soil, improve the aggregate structure, and enhance soil fertility. Finally, the implementation of the ecological fertile soil planting technique can overcome the disadvantages of intensive cultivation and protective tillage, thereby facilitating stable and high crop yield.

10

Authors: Hevko. I.B., Dyachun A.Ye., Hud V.Z., Rohatynska L.R., Klendiy V.M.

The aim of the research is to analyze the influence of pulse forces on non-linear torsorial vibrations of a screw conveyer. The methodology is based on the combination of the methods by Bubnov-Halorkin and Van der Pol. With the help of this methodology we have developed the so called equations of a standard form for the case of pulse forces action. A mathematical model of the torsorial vibrations of a screw conveyer under the influence of pulse forces is presented. It has been determined, that there is a jump pattern of change of the amplitude-frequency characteristics of the torsorial vibrations of a screw conveyer. Resonance torsorial vibrations of a screw conveyer under the influence of pulse forces have been considered. Torsorial vibrations of a screw conveyer have been investigated in case, when the moment of resistance forces is proportional to the relative angular velocity, and the moment of pulse forces is approximated by a non-linear function. It has been determined, that in such a case the influence of pulse forces becomes apparent only in the change of frequency of the vibrations of a screw conveyer. The amplitude-frequency characteristics of the torsorial vibrations of a screw conveyer of different geometrics have been presented.

12

Authors: Deng Jifeng, Ding Guodong, Gao Guanglei, Gao Lin

Farmland shelterbelts can yield maximum ecological benefits with the smallest occupied area of forests and result in sustainable use of farmland resources. Rapid and efficient planning of farmland shelterbelts at various scales is becoming an urgent task in ecological landscape design. Until now, the problems in studies on farmland shelterbelts combined with wind erosion models are associated with conflicts between scientific and practical requirements. Based on previous research results, a case study was conducted in Yanchi County in north-western China. The primary objectives of this study were to use a new method for the arrangement of tree species and to investigate the effects of sand prevention. In addition, changes in the trends of the input parameters under multiple wind erosion events were analyzed and tested. The results indicated that under a single arrangement of tree species, better shelter protection was provided within the shrub shelterbelt or outside the arbor shelterbelt forest. Under a different arrangement of tree species, shrubs arranged with arbor belts gave little protection on the leeward side. Arbor trees arranged with shrub belts could effectively prevent sand from the windward side, while low trees in the upwind direction provided limited protection. Cumulative percentiles of sand displacement showed that under different arrangements of tree species, the sand prevention benefit was better than that of a single tree species. In addition, the experimental error was less than 3.00% and there was close correlation between percentiles of sand displacement under multiple wind erosion events, indicating a preferable simulation effect.

12

Authors: Jin C., Wei J., Sun H., Yin Y.

To ensure riding comfort, vibration generated by engine, drive system and ground need to be considered in designing an agricultural vehicle. This study examines multi-body dynamics model of an agricultural vehicle, and focuses on the distributed electric-drive agricultural vehicle. To simulate the response of an electric-drive agricultural vehicle to vibrations excited by the drive motors, engine and road roughness, this study proposes a vibration model of a distributed electric-drive agricultural vehicle that has 11 degrees of freedom and coupled excitation sources. The model was derived from vehicle dynamics equations and solved numerically employing fast Fourier transform. The model was validated in experiments on a real distributed electric-drive agricultural vehicle. Simulations and experiments showed that the amplitude of low-frequency vibration of the cab was increased by simultaneous excitations, which could not be ignored. This result is useful for the design of the suspension component and overall design of agricultural machinery.