Design of cutting device for decapitation of potato shoots
2021
Levshin, A., Russian State Agrarian Univ. − Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy (Russian Federation) | Gasparyan, I., Russian State Agrarian Univ. − Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy (Russian Federation) | Shchigolev, S., Russian State Agrarian Univ. − Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy (Russian Federation) | Mekhedov, M., Russian State Agrarian Univ. − Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy (Russian Federation)
Potatoes are one of the most popular agricultural crops. One of the eco-friendly ways to increase the yield of potatoes is to use the internal potential of the plant, or rather, to artificially redirect the vector of its development. Such methods include a technique called “decapitation”, which consists in stimulating the development of tubers by increasing the area of the leaf surface of the tops. The process of decapitation consists in the mechanical removal of the upper part of the plant in the early stages of its growth. For decapitation of potato shoots it is proposed to use a mechanized device, one of the main elements of which is a rotary cutting device, which has a fairly simple design of the cutting part and the drive. For devices of this type the main factor that affects the cutting process is the speed of the knife. As a result of laboratory studies, it was determined that in order to ensure the free cutting of potato shoots, the knife of the cutting device must have a linear speed of more than 5.5 m•sE−1. The obtained values allowed us to conclude that the main problem when using the cutting device in the potato decapitation device will not be the cut of the shoots, but its interaction with other systems of the device: pneumatic boot lift and disinfection system. To ensure normal joint operation of these systems, it is proposed to use a disk knife with a smooth blade for cutting plants. The possibility of cutting plants with such a device was proved experimentally at a circumferential disk speed of 6 and 18 m•sE−1. It is concluded that in order to achieve a guaranteed cut of shoots with a disc knife it may be necessary to install support elements that exclude bending of the cut part of the plant and to determine the optimal design and technological parameters of the disc knife it is necessary to perform field studies.
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