Effects of direction of rotation on the performance of a rotary tiller in Bangkok clay soil | |
| Author | Ramalingam, Nagarajan |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no. AE-98-1 |
| Subject(s) | Rotary tillers--Thailand--Bangkok Soil mechanics--Thailand--Bangkok |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Experiments were conducted in a Bangkok clay soil to investigate the effects of reverse-rotation on the performance of a rotary tiller. Tests were conducted in wetlands as well as drylands. The performance was compared with that of the conventional C-type rotary tiller under similar conditions. The transmission system of the rotary tiller was modified to enable reverse-rotation. New type of blades were designed for mounting on the reverse-rotary tiller. Tests were conducted at various tractor forward speeds of 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 kmph. PTO power consumed was calculated from the PTO torque and speed. The results indicated that the PTO power consumption was less for the reverse-rotary tiller for all passes at all forward speeds. For both the rotary tillers, power consumption decreased as the number of passes increased, whereas power consumption increased when the forward speed was increased. At all forward speeds, the power consumption was the highest during the first pass and lowest during the third pass. The maximum difference of PTO power requirement was after the first pass at 1.0 kmph forward speed. The reverse-rotary tiller consumed 33.92 % less PTO power under this condition. The actual values were 9.58 kW for C-type and 6.33 kW for the reverse-rotary tiller. The reverse-rotary tiller performed better than the C-type rotary tiller in terms of the chopping and burial of weeds. The C-type rotary tiller performed slightly better than the reverse-rotary tiller in terms of puddling index, viscosity, falling cone penetration and bulk density reduction. Shear strength and cone index values were not significantly different for the reverse-rotary and C-type rotary tiller. In the dryland tests, the reverse-rotary tiller performed better than the C-type rotary tiller in terms of lower power consumption, greater reduction of shear strength and cone index. PTO power consumption was lower for the reverse-rotary tiller for all passes. |
| Year | 1998 |
| 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) | Salokhe, V. M.; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Singh, Gajendra ;Hansen, Gunner K. ; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Governn1ent of Norway; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1998 |