Finite element simulation of moldboard-soil interaction

The efficiency of the tillage is measured by the power consumption or the tillage force or draught and the quality of the worked soil. The tillage forces are mainly a function of soil mechanical properties, working parameters of the tool (e.g. depth and speed) and tool geometry. In this paper we report on the numerical modeling of soil tillage. The finite element method (FEM) was used to model the cutting process of the soil using a moldboard. The surface geometry of the moldboard was measured with a 3D touch probe bench, also called coordinate measuring machine, and these data were used to construct the shape with SolidWorks design software. An elasto-plastic constitutive model was used for the soil. The generated surface of the plow was imported to Abaqus software as a discrete rigid body with a reference point at the tip of the moldboard. At this tip the reaction force with its three orthogonal components was calculated. The impact of the cutting angle (angle between the horizontal generatrix and the tillage direction) and the lift angle (angle between the moldboard surface and the horizontal line in an orthogonal section to the cutting edge) on draught force was investigated. The optimal values of these angles are in agreement with experimental data from the literature. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.