| Author | Shrestha, Dev Sagar |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.AE-99-02 |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Because of the complexity in designing a moldboard plow, it has been manufactured mostly based on experience and empirical methods. Despite all its advantages, because of unsuitable design of moldboard plow, it has not been popular in developing countries of south Asia. Since the number of animal drawn plows in these countries are many fold greater than number of tractor drawn implements, special emphasis should be given to animal drawn implements. In this research, a mathematical model of a moldboard plow has been developed requiring minimum amount of energy. Using this method, a moldboard plow requiring the least specific draft was designed for given soil conditions (specific weight of soil, cohesion, soil-metal adhesion, soil-metal frictional angle and soil internal frictional angle) and operating condition (speed and depth of cut) for a given power source. Five plow parameters were set to describe a moldboard plow viz. width of cut, share angle, side rake angle, angular acceleration of soil inversion in transverse plane and length of plow in direction of travel. The designed moldboard plow was tested in two different soils in laboratory soil bin. To validate the model and to compare its performance with commercially available moldboard plow at different soil conditions. Specific draft required for plowing was compared and from the statistical analysis it was found that the difference between predicted and measured specific drafts was not significant. Statistical analysis also showed that modeled plow indeed needed significantly less specific draft than the commercial plow. Finally it was recommended to carry out the experiment in the field for different soil condition and power sources and compare the specific draft required with existing moldboard plow. It was also recommended to study the field performance of moldboard plow when the moldboard is fmther extended towards landside. |
| Year | 1999 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources (Former title: Department of Food Agriculture, and BioResources (DFAB)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Agricultural and Food Engineering (AE) |
| Chairperson(s) | Singh, Gajendra |
| Examination Committee(s) | Salokhe, Vilas M. ;Shivakoti, Ganesh P. ;Chaiyapol Kaewprakaisaengkul |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | The Government of Netherlands |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1999 |