1. Rotary TillersAnd Rotary Blades 旋耕机与旋耕刀

3. Background • Rotary tiller (rotary hoe) is widely used for soil cultivation • In south of China, more than 80% soil tillage work is finished by rotary tillers

4. Rotary tiller used in dry lands

5. L-shaped rotary blades with straight-line edges

6. Rotary tiller used in China

7. Rotary blades with curved edges, used in paddy fields

8. Howard rotavator

9. An Innovation in Australia A long row to hoe The Howard Rotavator In 1912, 16-year-old Cliff Howard had an idea that would change the way small farms were cultivated. To make hoeing more efficient, Howard introduced power to the hoe’s blades, so that they would dig the earth and help push the hoe forward at the same time. All the farmer had to do was steer.

11. Howard Rotavator • It took ten years for Howard’s first Rotavator to be perfected. • At their sales peak in 1970, 100 000 a year were exported to 120 countries.

12. A Problem When rotary tillers are used in very grassy paddy fields, in which soils are soft and grass difficult to cut, grass and straw twists on their rotary axles and rotary blades thus preventing rotation

13. Grassy paddy field Straw with thick weeds after harvesting

14. Grasses twist on rotary axles and rotary blades

15. Research Aims • Overcome the above problem, preventing grass and straw to twist on rotary blades • Evaluate grass-removing performance of rotary blades with grass-removing angles • Calculate magnitude of grass-removing angles • Help design rotary blades with better grass-removing performance

16. Rotary Blade • When a rotary blade is cutting into soil, the edge of the blade can be considered as a cutting edge • At any point of the edge curve, a tangential line can be used to represent the cutting edge of that point

17. Movement of a cutting edge

18. Slide-cutting • Dividing velocity v into vt and vn • The ratio vt / vn = tan  • is called the slide-cutting angle

19. Grass-removing Angle • If  has a large value, grass and straw can slip easily off the blade • For rotary blades,  is the grass-removing angle

20. τ = 40° τ = 35° τ = 70° τ = 55°

22. Analysis of Slide-cutting • Dividing N into T and P • T = N tan  , F = Nf = N tanψ • If T ＞ F , then  ＞ψ

24. Analysis of  •  is the angle between the velocity and the normal line of edge curve • The absolute velocity is the resultant of linear velocity r and forward velocity u •  can be divided into s and d

25. Determination of  d = s - 

27. Application • For a particular type of rotary blade (e.g. Archimedes spiral), one needs to calculate the blade’s static ts and dynamic td slide cutting angles and  to evaluate the grass removing performance of the blade

28. Archimedes’ Spiral • r = r0 + K • r0 = 135 mm, • rmax = 228 mm, • 0≤  ≤27º = 0.47 rad • K = 3.44 mm / deg = 197.35 mm / rad, • R = 245 mm

29. t Dt t Calculation of slide-cutting angles for Archimedes’ spiral

30. From the graph • At the shank part of rotary blade,  is large and the dynamic slide-cutting angle d is small • At the shank of the rotary blade there is a greater propensity for grass and straw to twist than at the tip • Static slide-cutting angle s at the shank should therefore be increased

31. Sine-index Spiral For sine-index spiral, s could be greater at shank part than at tip part of the blade Rotary blades would have better grass-removing performance

32. td r (mm) Comparison of sine-index with Archimedes’

33. Much less grass on rotary blades

34. Conclusion • In paddy fields, grass and straw twist easily on rotary axles and rotary blades • Dynamic slide-cutting angle d is always smaller than the static slide-cutting angle s • Static slide-cutting angle s should be greater at the shank part than at the tip part • Sine-index spiral, Archimedes’ spiral and straight line can be used at different situations

35. Thank You!