Design And Experimental Study Of High Lugs Rigid Driving Wheel For Farm Tractors

The applications of agricultural machines and tractors in tillage operations for crop cultivation and enough grain production are unavoidable factors of the agricultural production system.However,unwise and unplanned intensive applications of heavy wheeled traffic for cultivation operations are causing serious damage to soil and energy resources and the environment.Wheeled tractors with poor traction and high axle loads have been indicated as the main source of soil compaction,excessive energy consumption and numerous associated concerns in the agricultural ecosystem and environment.To meet the increasing demand for transferring engine power to drawbar with higher efficiency and less damage to the resources and environment,it is an urgent request of the time to design light and highly efficient machines.For reducing machine weight and limiting field traffic intensity,the efficiency and performance of traction wheels need to be optimized.A new idea of a rigid traction wheel with sharp edge high lugs was perceived with the concept that it can generate more traction by penetrating top loose tilled soil layer under less normal load.It can produce some pretillage effect and interact with subsurface soil that has good mechanical properties and good trafficability.In this way,it will help to avoid soil compaction and energy losses.Soil mechanics or study of soil physical and mechanical properties is important for wheel soil interaction analysis and understanding traction ability and drivability of wheels and trafficability of terrain soil.So,the soil characterization was done by using standard soil characteristics measuring instruments,all required physical and mechanical properties of experimental field soil were measured.The parameters like soil moisture content and soil penetration resistance were measured directly from the field and soil texture,density,cohesion,angle of international friction and soil organic matter content were measured through laboratory tests.Results of all soil characteristics were analyzed and recorded for further traction and drivability analysis.A modern traction wheel “rigid lugged wheel(RLW)” was devised for field tillage operations.For the design and analysis of RLW,terramechanics and mathematics principles and engineering design software found useful and abetted efficiently in the entire design and analysis process.Lug design,specifically working faceplate of lug was the main objective of this study,special attention was given to the design and installation parameters of lug working faceplate.It was designed in a special wedge shape with a tilted working face that can minimize the normal(vertical)component of the wheel drive force and maximize the horizontal drive force component in parallel to the travel direction of the tractor.Lugs were arranged on wheel circumference in a herringbone pattern that could penetrate and break soil under the self-weight of the tractor.The whole wheel model was statically analyzed in ANSYS to check its structural stability and optimization.Static structural analysis results showed good stability of structure with negligible strains and deformations under applied stresses.Simulation results also help for wheel structure optimization,by reducing steel sheet thickness the weight of the wheel will be reduced further to the optimum level.The prototype structure of RLW was developed at a local manufacturing factory with the same mounting mechanism of the conventional tire wheel(CTW)and the final alignment and installation process was completed at the engineering workshop of engineering college.Drive tests were conducted an on-road drive and in different field conditions to assess the drivability,traction ability and wheel soil interaction of RLW.On the drive of RLW with rubber pad accessories was found satisfactory with mounted implement loads at lower to medium speed.Infield drive and traction performance of RLW was significantly efficient in all field conditions with good wheel soil interaction,in wet and sticky clay soil RLW faced problem of soil sticking and wheel lug blocking,for that,some structural modifications were recommended.Lightweight tractors with improved traction performance could avoid the losses and help to overcome the agricultural production issues.Effects of traction improvement on soil cultivation and compaction,fuel consumption,field productivity,operational economy and environmental quality in terms of CO2 emissions were assessed and analyzed.Detailed field experiments were conducted to assess and compare the traction performance of conventional agricultural wheeled tractor fitted with CTW and RLW in various field conditions.The effect of field condition/ soil characteristics on the traction performance of both wheels was considered to assess the soil trafficability with different types of drive wheels.The effects of multiple passes of both wheels on tilled and untilled soils were also evaluated to check the soil compaction effect.By measuring fuel consumption and field productivity of tractor in tillage operations,effects of mechanized tillage and cultivation operations on crop production,production economy,and environmental quality were assessed.A first field study was done to assess the traction ability and wheel soil interaction of RLW in field tillage deep plowing operation.Traction performance and effect on soil compaction of RLW and CTW mounted on the same tractor was compared.Conducted two field tillage trials in two clay soils by moldboard plow,using a 70 k W single-wheeled MFWD tractor operated at various speeds,tillage depths,and draught force.RLW resulted in lower travel reduction by 111%,136% and 163% over the slow,medium and fast treatments respectively.The maximum travel reduction at high speed for the RLW was 12% over 25.54 k N draught force while for CTW it was 32% over 23.79 k N draught force.RLW showed less compaction over one and three passes in terms of penetration resistance and bulk density compared to CTW.The second arable field experimental study was conducted for a detailed assessment of the traction performance indices or traction and power transfer indices,the impact on fuel consumption,field productivity,operational cost,and CO2 emissions for the CTW and RLW in field tillage operations.Trails were conducted using a 70 k W conventional MFWD tractor and five bottom moldboard plow.Several traction performance and power transfer indices and energy indicators like drawbar force,drawbar power,travel reduction,motion resistance,tractive efficiency,and vehicle traction ratio were explained,measured and analyzed from direct field tests data.Analysis of all the above factors including fuel consumption,field productivity,operational cost and environmental effects and results of this study clearly showed that the RLW outperformed the CTW by showing positive indications of traction performance and power transfer indices improvement.Effects of traction performance improvement on fuel consumption,field productivity,operational economy and environmental quality in terms of CO2 emissions were significantly better.Results indicated a significant decrease in travel reduction and good control on its increasing rate by RLW over different speeds and draught force.Significant traction improvement was achieved without increasing equipment weight,which could be benefited by pulling the wide implements to reduce field traffic intensity and soil compaction.This was due to higher contact area and penetration of lugs to deeper soil layers with higher shear strength and traction ability.RLW has created a dynamic opportunity for wheeled tractors in agriculture,with an optimized structure that could make it more efficient and versatile in the field.