DYNAMIC EFFECTS OF SPEED, DEPTH AND SOIL STRENGTH UPON FORCES ON PLOW COMPONENTS

The dynamic effects of ploughing depth, speed and variations of soil resistance upon the forces that result from each plough component (share point, share wing, mouldboard and landside) are considered. The experiments were carried out under field conditions on clay and sandy soils. Both the depth and speed were measured continuously. Tri-axial forces on each plough component were measured simultaneously. The soil resistance varied in terms of soil bulk density. The field was divided into several sections where alternate sections were compacted. Measurements were made when the plough moved from the loosened part to the compacted part and vice versa. The principles of model identification methods have been adapted to investigate the dynamic relations between the above mentioned variables and the resulting forces using the data collected in the field. The results showed that the depth-force, speed-force and soil resistance-force dynamic systems can be adequately described using simple linear models. Various model-validation techniques were employed to evaluate the performance of the models. The models were also tested with different data sets which were not used in the identification process and their predictions agreed well with measured values. © 1992 Silsoe Research Institute.