INMATEH-Agricultural Engineering | 2019
RESEARCH OF CONSTRUCTIVE AND REGULATORY PARAMETERS OF THE ASSEMBLY WORKING PARTS FOR POTATO HARVESTING MACHINES
Abstract
The problem of improving the quality of potato tuber separation by improving the digging working parts from the construction of potato harvesters is investigated. Based on the analysis of the theoretical and experimental studies on the existing working parts, the design scheme was established and the optimum values of the parameters and operation modes of the digging working parts were established, for potato harvesting machines, which would allow improving the quality performances of the potato harvester as a whole. According to the research results, an experimental sample of digging working parts for potato harvesting machines was developed and manufactured, whose verification in operation confirmed their workability and efficiency. РЕЗЮМЕ Досліджується проблема підвищення якості сепарації картопляного вороху за рахунок удосконалення підкопувальних робочих органів для картоплезбиральних машин. На основі аналізу існуючих робочих органів, теоретичних і експериментальних досліджень визначено конструктивну схему та встановлено оптимальні значення параметрів та режимів роботи елементів підкопувальних робочих органів для картоплезбиральних машин, які дозволять підвищити якісні показники роботи картоплезбиральної машини в цілому. За результатами досліджень розроблено та виготовлено експериментальний зразок елементів підкопувальних робочих органів для картоплезбиральних машин, виробнича перевірка яких при роботі на картоплезбиральній машині підтвердила його працездатність та ефективність. INTRODUCTION Ukraine has a unique natural potential, which allows it to become a leader in the production of agricultural products in Europe. However, in order successfully enter the western markets it is necessary to ensure, first of all, the competitiveness of its own products, which is achieved by the complex mechanization of technological processes, reducing labour costs, increasing the yield and quality of the products (Hrushetsky S.M., 2016). Potato cultivation in our country is carried out according to the technology of the last century, and if earlier potato cultivation was mechanized, now it is performed in most farms manually. With the reforms in the village, potato growing scattered over small peasant, farmer and garden lands, where about 95% of this crop is located. Machines for growing potatoes in Ukraine were imported mainly from the Russian Federation, Belarus and Germany. Potatoes producers on all scales often take the example of neighbouring Belarus, where the technological cycle is fully provided by the state, the corresponding factories operate. There is a problem of improving the existing and inventing new promising technologies and working parts of potato harvesting equipment, justifying the optimal modes of their work and, ultimately, providing this crop sector with modern, high-performance and reliable harvesting equipment. 1 Hrushetsky S.M., Assoc. Prof. Ph.D. Eng.; Yaropud V.M., Assoc. Duganets V.I., Prof. Ph.D. Eng.; Prof. Dr. in Pedagogy; Duganets V.I., Assoc. Prof. Ph.D. Eng.; Pryshliak V.M., Assoc. Prof. Ph.D. Eng.; Kurylo V.L., Prof. Dr. in Agriculture Vol. 59, No. 3 / 2019 INMATEH –\uf041\uf067\uf072\uf069\uf063\uf075\uf06c\uf074\uf075\uf072\uf061\uf06c\uf020\uf045\uf06e\uf067\uf069\uf06e\uf065\uf065\uf072\uf069\uf06e\uf067\uf020 102 MATERIALS AND METHODS The problem of growing and collecting potatoes is tackled in a lot of published works. Increasing the technological level of modern potato harvesting machines, the criteria for assessing loss ratio, contamination and damage of the products to their mass, remain a scientific and actual problem for the further development of domestic machinery for tubers harvesting. An analysis of the evolution of the design and layout and technological schemes of potato harvesting equipment shows that, at present, powerful self-propelled bunker combines are increasingly used for harvesting, which annually collect crop on up to 70% of world s land (Pogorel’y L.V. & Tatianko M.V., 2004). Further deepening and development of the general concept of modern machines rational outlines are possible based on world experience analysis of phased improvement of harvesting root crops process, or based on a more detailed analysis of the working parts functioning of the main transport and technological systems for digging and cleaning root crops. The efficiency of root crops harvesting depends to a large extent on the construction and layout scheme and the work quality of the heap purifier, which must separate at least 92% of impurities according to the initial requirements for potato harvesting machines, while adhering to the allowable values of losses and damage to the root crops (Dubrovin V., Golub G., Baranovsky V. & Teslyuk V., 2013). A significant variation in the working conditions of potato harvesting machines and the lack of adaptation of existing constructions of digging and especially cleaning working parts to these changes in the working conditions do not allow obtaining stable agrotechnical parameters, especially for dry and wet soil, field’s weeds, etc. With an increase in soil moisture to 22-28%, the quality of machines deteriorates by 2-6 times, and on solid soils there is observed a significant (up to 20-40%) amount of root heap with lumps of soil (Ramsh V.Y., Baranovsky V.M. & Pankiv M.R., 2011). Despite the rather complex transport and technological systems of the working parts for cleaning the remaining root heap, after clearing by the energy-intensive multi-stage systems for cleaning the excavated amount of ground of soil impurities from the fields, the amount of fertile soil which is extracted, is the equivalent of 10...15 cm of the arable layer on the harvesting area equal to 100 ha, in spite of the fact that the total length of the treatment surfaces reaches 8...10 m (Baranovsky V.M., Onishchenko V.B. & Solomka V.O., 2002). The aim of the work is to systematize and synthesize the research of modern technologies of cultivating and harvesting potatoes and create a new design of a sub-cultivating working body that would collect the minimum amount of soil together with the tubers and provide the possibility of better fragmentation of the formation to facilitate separation with increased operational efficiency, technological reliability of the sub-cavern body and reduction of its traction support. To achieve this goal, you need: 1. To analyse the existing designs of the sub-cultivating working parts of potato harvesting machines, the results of experimental and theoretical studies of the digging working parts and to improve the design on their basis; 2. Theoretically explain the improvement of the parameters and modes of operation of the digging machines for potato harvesting; 3. Based on the results of laboratory-field experimental studies specify the optimal parameters and work modes of the investigated working body and determine the agronomic indicators according to the performance of the potato harvesting machine; 4. To determine the effectiveness of the use of combined digging working parts. Well known digging working parts according to the type of needed work are divided into the passive ones, active ones and mixed ones (Hrushetsky S.M., Zbaravskaya L.Y. & Semenishena I.V., 2017). Depending on the shape, they are flat, sectional and cylindrical, where the shape of the curved front is similar to the shape of the nest of the root tubers, the cylindrical surface is flat, and the back side is convex (Hrushetsky S.M., Bendera I.M. & Belous S.V., 2008). The technical result depends on reducing the time spent on stopping the harvesting unit and cleaning the digging working body from the plant residues, as well as in reducing the energy costs of digging the potato tuber. Fig. 1 shows tubers zone of placement: Br row width, B the capture width of the border front undercut part is equal to the width of the nest bug placement of tubers, taking into account the transverse deviations of the line from the axial line 2δ; hd digging depth; h depth of occurrence of extreme tubers. The width of the final part of the potato cutter s digging is equal to the width of the separating part. Vol. 59, No. 3 / 2019 INMATEH –\uf041\uf067\uf072\uf069\uf063\uf075\uf06c\uf074\uf075\uf072\uf061\uf06c\uf020\uf045\uf06e\uf067\uf069\uf06e\uf065\uf065\uf072\uf069\uf06e\uf067\uf020 103 Fig. 1 – Zone of tuber placement The proposed digging working body for potato harvesting machines is shown in Fig. 2 (Hrushetsky S.M., Horodinsky V.O., Stavruk D.V., Gromik B.I. & Dudar M.O., 2015; Hrushetsky S.М., Zbaravskaya L.Y. & Semenishena I.V., 2018) – side view of potato harvesting: Vм – speed of the machine; Qo – filing of the general amount of potato’s soil mass which has r(ti) – the amount of small particles of soil at the time t, k(ti) – the number of tubers at the time t, m(ti) – amount of plant residues at the time t, q(ti) – the number of large lumps at the time t; αp – angle of inclination of a cylindrical catcher to the horizon; fig. 3 – top view of a cylindrical catcher: γ – the sloping angle of the slice with the excavated bunch of tubers down the blade; fig. 4 – a view of the catcher in the cut position А-А, B-B, C-C and D-D – fig. 3; fig. 4 – view E above the flat triangle – fig. 2. Fig. 2 − Working body for potato harvesting machines (side view) The technological scheme of the digging process consists of a potato’s soil mass 1, on both sides of which there are two vertical toothed gears 2, with soil compactors 3. The disc has a series of openings 4 with centres which are located concentrically on the axis of rotation of the toothed disc, while the distance between the outer edge of the disc tooth to the axis of the opening is permissible to 140...250 mm. The diameter of the hole in the toothed disc can be made within the limits of 30...37 mm. A root heap harvesting part which has a cylinder surface shape 5 (fig. 3), of the potato harvesting machine, on which the potato’s soil mass 1 moves, which after a certain change in shape and deformation on the separation rods 6, in the longitudinal vertical surface, enters the separator 7, followed by the subsequent technological process separation. Fig. 3 − Working part for potato harvesting mac