Development of Instrumentation System for Evaluating Draught of Tillage Tools Under Indoor Soil Bin Conditions. 1019, Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria

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1 Proceedings of the International Soil Tillage Research Oganisation (ISTRO) Nigeria Symposium, Akure 214 November 3-6, Akure, Nigeria Development of Instrumentation System for Evaluating Draught of Tillage Under Indoor Soil Bin Conditions. 61. Development of Instrumentation System for Evaluating Draught of Tillage Under Indoor Soil Bin Conditions 1 Abisuwa, T. A. and 2* Manuwa, S. I 1 *Department of Agricultural and Bio-Environmental Engineering, Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, PMB 119, Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria 2 Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, College of Science and Engineering, Landmark University, Omuaran, Kwara State, Nigeria *Corresponding author manuwaseth@rocketmail.com Abstract There is need to develop more sensitive instrumentation for capturing draught force data in soil bin experimentation. In this study an instrumentation consisting of data logger, voltage amplifier, and a load cell were designed, assembled, calibrated and interfaced with laptop for capturing draught force data of tillage tools in indoor soil bin experimentation. Draught requirements of tillage tools were investigated under various tillage parameters: soil parameter (moisture content), tool parameter (tool type and rake angle), operational parameters (speed and depth). The type of soil used for the experimentation was loamy sand. Two rake angles (4 o and 9 o ),and two soil conditions (dry and wet) were used for evaluating the draught of the tillage tools (sweeps).results showed that draught force increased with increase in rake angle, and in soil moisture content. with flat surface profile had greater draught than those with ridged profile surface. Maximum draught of tools were 7 N () under wet condition and 4 o rake angle, 9 N (SF1) under wet condition and 9 o rake angle, 9 N (SF2) under wet condition and 4 o rake angle, and 9 N (SR2) under wet condition and 4 o rake angle, Soil disturbance parameters also were higher under wet soil condition for both rake angles. Soil disturbance parameters except the ridge to ridge distance and maximum width of soil throw showed higher values for tool rake angle of 9 o. The trend was the same under moisture conditions. Results analysis showed that the digital way of draught measurement was more sensitive and accurate than the analogue we had been previously used. Draught increased with increase in tools rake angle and moisture content. with high profile had lower draft requirement than plane surface tools. The study has provided another complementary facility in the study of soil tillage dynamics under indoor soil bin conditions. Keywords: draught; instrumentation; soil bin; tillage tools; soil disturbance 1. Introduction The application of soil bin for soil machine interaction research was initially established by several research institutes, like the National Tillage and Machinery Laboratory in the United States. Soilmachine interaction tests are conducted in fields for development of a prototype machine or evaluation of an existing machine, so that the tests could simulate the actual field situation. Several problems often limit field-testing. The problems come from two sources, the weather condition and the soil condition. Testing can only be conducted when the weather is suitable for field operations. But weather condition and changes in climate affect field operations (Hammer et al. 2). But, controlling these parameters is essential for valid comparisons of measurements of tools or traction devices. (Gill and Vanden Berg 1968; Mahadi, 2) and these field conditions are beyond the control of researchers. Soil bins provide several benefits to soil-machine interaction studies. If located indoor, tests can be conducted all year round without weather interruption. Soil bins also allow researchers to control soil type and soil moisture content (Stafford 1979). In addition, researchers can replicate the same soil condition in a soil bin easily for every test. Monitoring and controlling of travel speed and working

2 Proceedings of the International Soil Tillage Research Oganisation (ISTRO) Nigeria Symposium, Akure 214 November 3-6, Akure, Nigeria depth of the test tools can also be done easily in a soil bin. Experiments using indoor soil bins can also reduce experimental errors due to the precise control on the tool working depth and travel speed. And these field machines usually contribute a major portion of the total cost of crop production. Their proper operation is essential for any system to be reasonably profitable. Proper selection of tractors and implements need to be based on these performance parameters (Al-Suhaibani 1992; Al- Suhaibani et al 21; Mardani et al, 21). For research purpose on investigation into these important soil dynamic parameters, it is difficult to quantitatively analyze the dynamic mechanical behavior of soil directly as the constituent of the soil is complex and the mechanical behavioral changing of disturbed soil is unstable. How to use indirect measurement to describe the dynamic mechanical behaviors of soil is often analyzed by measuring and studying all the forces acting on the tool by soil currently. Today many measuring instruments and electronic technology have been developed to some areas of agriculture, but they are scarcely adopted in Africa especially in the areas of soil tillage dynamics research and development. This study therefore was aimed on the development of an indoor soil bin instrumentation system for draught force measurement of tillage tools. 2. Materials and Methods 2.1 Location of study The experiment was carried out in the soil bin of soil-tillage dynamics laboratory of the department of Agricultural Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. 2.2 Description of indoor soil bin facility The equipment consisted of an indoor soil bin of 9. m length,.8 m width and.4 m depth; a soil processing trolley with a compaction roller, a tool carriage; a power transmission system with a 3.1kW electric motor as prime mover; a tool mounting frame, vertical and angle adjustment device; a profile meter for measuring soil disturbance parameters and a - tonne load cell for draught force measurement. An overview of the soil tillage dynamic equipment is reported (Ademosun et al., 26). Other tools that were used in this study include eight different model tillage tines, made from steel 8 mm thick. 2.3 Experimental tillage tools The tools width were 1cm narrow tine (), cm narrow tine (T), cm flat sweep (SF), cm ridged sweep (SR), 1cm flat sweep, 1 cm ridge sweep (SR1), 2 cm flat sweep (SF2) and 2 cm ridge sweep (SR2) as shown in Figure. 2.4 Instrumentation and assembled strain gauge amplifier The instrumentation system was developed with -tones load cell for the measurement of draught of tillage tools. The circuit diagram of the assembled voltage amplifier is shown in figure 2 while the amplifier is shown in figure 3. The voltage amplifier is to boost resulting voltage and enhance data acquisition, storage and processing as it was connected to data logger (figure 4) and interfaced with a laptop. The calibration set up of the load cell calibration set up is shown (figure ) while the calibration curve for the load cell (figure 6) indicated good linearity with the coefficient of determination approaching unity (R 2 =.9833). 2. Experimental Plan Experimentation was conducted following two soil moisture regimes of dry soil (of zero moisture content and wet soil of 14% (db) moisture content). The plan is as shown in Table 1. 1

3 Proceedings of the International Soil Tillage Research Oganisation (ISTRO) Nigeria Symposium, Akure 214 November 3-6, Akure, Nigeria Development of Instrumentation System for Evaluating Draught of Tillage Under Indoor Soil Bin Conditions Experimental Procedure soil condition The soil was prepared to the required condition using the necessary soil bin accessories. The moisture content was not varied but the tools were varied. The forward speed was also fixed at 1.2 m/s and the degree of compaction was fixed at 172 kpa. The tillage tools experimented upon are shown in figure 1 also represented in Table 1. Soil failure and soil disturbance parameters were measured with a profilometer and steel rule. Draught force readings were captured and stored by data logger interfaced with laptop Soil Experiment The procedure is similar to that reported in section However, the constant forward speed was 1.m/s, constant moisture content (14% db), and constant degree of compaction of 69 kpa. The soil was watered using a sprinkler system. The tillage tools used are as represented in Table 1. Soil failure and soil disturbance parameters were measured. Draught force readings captured and stored by data logger were downloaded to the computer for further analysis Soil disturbance parameters For the purpose of analysis, the general form of soil disturbance was quantified by the parameters shown in Figure 7. The parameters of the soil disturbance were: maximum width of soil throw (TDW); maximum width of soil cut (Wfs); this is also known as width of Crescent; the ridge to ridge distance (RRD); the height of the ridge (hr); after plough Furrow depth (df) and the tool width (W). Another parameter of the soil disturbance measured but not shown in the Figure 6 is rupture distance, (f), defined as the distance ahead of the tine at which the distinct shear plane broke the surface (Godwin and Spoor, 1977). These parameters have been used to assess soil disturbance of tillage implements by researchers (Willat and Willis, 196; Godwin and Spoor, 1977; Spoor and Godwin, 1978; Spoor and Fry, 1983; Wheeler and Godwin, 1996; Taniguchi et al., 1999). 3. Results and Discussion 3.1 Effect of tillage parameters on draught of tillage tools Figure 8 shows the effect of rake angle on draught of the tillage tools in dry loamy sand soil condition. Results show that draught increased with increase in rake angle as draught of each tillage tool was greater at 9 o than at 4 o at the specified forward speed and working depth of 6. m/s and 1 cm, respectively. Effect of tool surface profile on draught shown in figures 9 and 1 have similar tillage parameters except that the rake angles are 9 and 4 degrees respectively. The trend show that tillage tools with flat surface profile required greater draught than tools with ridged surface profile. This is expected because the ridged surface tends to shear and cut the soil ahead of the full width of the tool. Result also showed that wider tools gave greater draught, this however, is expected. Effect of moisture content MC of the soil on draught of the tillage tools is presented in in figures 1 and 11. It showed greater force requirements of the tools in wet soil than in dry soil. This is in agreement with the findings of Gupta and Surendranat (1989), Manuwa and Ademosun (27), Manuwa (29), Manuwa 21). Maximum draught of tools were 7N () under wet condition and 4 o tools rake angle, 9N (SF1) under wet condition and 9 o tools rake angle, 9N (SF2) under wet condition and 4 o tools rake angle, and 9N (SR2) under wet condition and 4 o tools rake angle, Soil disturbance parameters also were higher under wet soil condition for both rake angles. Soil disturbance parameters except 2

4 Proceedings of the International Soil Tillage Research Oganisation (ISTRO) Nigeria Symposium, Akure 214 November 3-6, Akure, Nigeria the ridge to ridge distance and maximum width of soil throw showed higher values for tools rake angle of 9 o. The trend was the same under moisture conditions Effect of moisture content on soil disturbance Effect of soil moisture content on soil disturbance is presented in figure 13 for 4 o and 9 o rake angle, 1 mm operating depth and.6 m/s forward speed. Soil disturbance parameter particularly after plough depth was higher with wet than dry soil and also at lower rake angle (4 degree). This is probably due to the fact that the transported soil did not collapse as it would do when dry. However, no trend was particularly noticeable Effect of rake angle on soil disturbance Effect of rake angle on soil disturbance parameters are shown in figure 14 for dry and wet soil conditions. Soil disturbance parameters tend to be higher with wet soil condition than with dry soil, however the trend was not clearly defined. There is a general trend that that soil disturbance parameters increased with increase in rake angle. 4. Conclusion A digital instrumentation system was designed, assembled, tested and found suitable for evaluation of draught of tillage tools under indoor soil bin conditions. Results showed that draught force increased with increase in tools rake angle and increase in soil moisture content. with flat profile surface had greater draught requirements than those with ridged profile surface. More studies should be carried out with the experimental tools and other types in the experimental soil (loamy sand) and other types of soil under various conditions. References Ademosun, O. C., Manuwa, S. I. and Ogunlowo, A. S. (26). Development of an In door Soil Bin Facility for Soil Tillage Dynamics Research. FUTA Journal of Engineering and Engineering Technology Research. Vol. (1): Al-Suhaibani A.A., Al-Janobi, A.A. and Al-Majhadi Y.N. (21). Development and Performance of model tillage tools. Proceedings of the second international Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 2 nd Edition: 646. Gill, W. R., and Vanden Berg, G. E., Soil dynamics in tillage and traction. Journal of engineering and applied sciences 3(2): Godwin, R.J. and G. Spoor. (1977). Soil failure with narrow tines. Journal of Agricultural Engineering Rese Gupta, C. P and Surendranath, T. (1989). Stress Field in soil owing to tillage tool interaction. Soil and Tillage Research. 13: Mckyes, E and Maswaure, J. (1997). Effect of design parameter of flat tillage tools on loosening of a clay soil. Soil Tillage Research 43: Manuwa, S. I. and Ademosun, O. C. (27). Draught and Soil Disturbance of Model Tillage Tines Under Varying Soil Parameters. Agricultural Engineering International, the CIGR Ejournal,( U S A. ). Vol. IX, March 27, pp (6%), [can be accessed through website: ],[ Manuwa, S. I. (29). Performance evaluation of tillage tines operating under different depths in a sandy clay loam soil. Soil and tillage research, 13: Manuwa, S. I. (21). Soil bin investigation of the effect of width of tine and rake angle on draught and soil disturbance of sandy clay loam Soil. Journal of Agricultural Engineering and Technology (JAET), Volume 18 (2): Spoor, G. and R.J. Godwin. (1978). An experimental investigation into the loosening of soil by rigid tines. Journal of Agricultural Engineering 23:

5 Proceedings of the International Soil Tillage Research Oganisation (ISTRO) Nigeria Symposium, Akure 214 November 3-6, Akure, Nigeria Development of Instrumentation System for Evaluating Draught of Tillage Under Indoor Soil Bin Conditions. 61. Hammer, G. L. (2). A General Systems Approach to Applying Seasonal Climate Forecasts: In Applications Of Seasonal Climate Forecasting In Agricultural and Natural Ecosystems. Edited by GL Hammer, N. Nicholls, C. Mitchell, Kluwer Academic Publisher pp Spoor G.and Fry 1983). Soil Disturbance Generated By Deep Working Low Rake Angle Narrow Tines. Journal of Agricultural Engineering Research: 28, Willatt, S. T. and Willis, A. H. (196). A Study of The Trough Formed By The Passage of Tines Through Soil. Journal of Agricultural Engineering Research. 1: Table 1: Experimental tillage parameters Parameters Moisture regime 1 Moisture regime 2,T, SF, SR, SF1, SR1, SF2, SR2,T, SF, SR, SF1, SR1, SF2, SR2 Rake Angle 4,9 4,9 Soil condition soil ( %db) soil (14 %db) Cone Index 172kPa 689.kPa T SF SR SF1 SR1 SF2 SR2 Figure 1: Experimental tillage tools 4

6 Proceedings of the International Soil Tillage Research Oganisation (ISTRO) Nigeria Symposium, Akure 214 November 3-6, Akure, Nigeria R f V 1 R 1 - V 2 R 1 + V R f Figure 2. Circuit diagram of assembled amplifier Figure 3. Assembled amplifier

7 Proceedings of the International Soil Tillage Research Oganisation (ISTRO) Nigeria Symposium, Akure 214 November 3-6, Akure, Nigeria Development of Instrumentation System for Evaluating Draught of Tillage Under Indoor Soil Bin Conditions. 61. Figure 4. data logger Figure. Load cell calibration set up Figure 6. Load cell calibration curve Figure 7. Schematic of soil disturbance parameters 6

8 Proceedings of the International Soil Tillage Research Oganisation (ISTRO) Nigeria Symposium, Akure 214 November 3-6, Akure, Nigeria depth:1cm, speed:.6m/s Debth: 1cm, speed:.6cm, rake angle: 4degree Draught (N) T SF1 SF2 SR1 SR2 9 4 Draught (N) S1 S2 Flat Ridge Fig 8 Effect of rake angle on draught for dry soil Fig.9: Effect of tool surface profile on draught for dry soil Debth: 1cm, speed:.6m/s, rake angle: 9degree Draught (N ) S S1 S2 Flat Ridge Fig.1; Effect of Tool surface profile on draught in dry soil Depth:1cm,speed:6.m/s rake angle:9 degrre 1 8 Draugth, N T SF1 SR1 Fig.11: Effect of mc on draught at 4 o rake angle Figure 12. Effect of mc on draught at 9 o rake angle 7

9 Proceedings of the International Soil Tillage Research Oganisation (ISTRO) Nigeria Symposium, Akure 214 November 3-6, Akure, Nigeria Development of Instrumentation System for Evaluating Draught of Tillage Under Indoor Soil Bin Conditions. 61. Depth;1cm,speed:.6m/s, Rake angle 9degree A fte r Plo ugh d e pth(cm ) T SF1 SR1 A ft e r P lo u g h d e p t h (c m ) Depth:1cm,Speed:.6m/s,Rake: angle 4degree T SF1 SR1 Figure 13 (a) depth:1cm,speed:.6m/s,rake angle:9degree. depth:1cm, Speed:.6m/s,Rake angle 4 degree Ridge to ridge distance(cm) T SF1 SR1 Ridge to ridge distance(cm) T SF1 SR1 Figure 13(b) Depth:1cm, Speed:.6m/s, Rake angle:9 degree Ridge height(cm) Ridge height(cm) Depth:1cm, Speed;.6m/s,Rake angle;4degree T SF1 SR1 T SF1 SR1 Figure 13(c) 8

10 Proceedings of the International Soil Tillage Research Oganisation (ISTRO) Nigeria Symposium, Akure 214 November 3-6, Akure, Nigeria Depth:1cm,Speed:.6m/s,Rake angle:9 degree. Depth:1cm,Speed:.6m/sRake angle: 4degree 3 3 M a x. w id t h o f s o il cu t (cm ) T SF1 SR1 M a x im u m w id t h o f cu t (cm ) T SF1 SR1 Figure 13 (d) depth:1cm, Speed:.6m/s, Rake angle: 9degree. deph:1cm,speed:6.m/s,rake angle 4degrre M a x. w id t h o f so il t h r o w ( c m ) T SF1 SR1 M a x. w id t h so il t h r o w (cm ) T SF1 SR1 Figure 13(e) Figure 13: Effect of moisture content on soil disturbance parameters at 4 and 9 degrees (a) After plough depth (b) Ridge to ridge distance (c) Ridge height d) maximum width of soil cut (e) Maximum width of soil throw 9

11 Proceedings of the International Soil Tillage Research Oganisation (ISTRO) Nigeria Symposium, Akure 214 November 3-6, Akure, Nigeria Development of Instrumentation System for Evaluating Draught of Tillage Under Indoor Soil Bin Conditions. 61. (wet soil) dry soil After plough depth(cm) Figure 14 (a) SF1 9 4 after plow depth(df) (cm) 1 SF1 9 4 effect of tool's rake angle on soil disturbance (WET) effect of tool's rake angle on soil disturbance (DRY) Ridge heigth (cm) SF1 9 4 ridge height (cm) Figure 14 (b) Maxi. width of soil cut (cm) WET soil T SF1 SR1 9 4 maxi. width of soil cut (cm) DRY soil T SF1 SR1 9 4 Figure 14 (c) 6

12 Proceedings of the International Soil Tillage Research Oganisation (ISTRO) Nigeria Symposium, Akure 214 November 3-6, Akure, Nigeria DRY soil 4 Maxi. width of soil throw (cm) maxi width of soil throw (cm) WET soil tools T SF1 SR1 wet soil SF1 Figure 14 (e) SR1 4 SF1 4 9 T dry soil ridge ro ridge distance (cm) Ridge to ridge distance(cm) Figure 14 (d) Figure 14: Effect of rake angle on soil disturbance parameters (dry and wet soils) (a) After plough depth (b) Ridge height (c) Maximum width of soil cut (d) Maximum width of soil throw (e) Ridge to ridge distance 61