EVALUATION OF TORQUE AND ENERGY CHARACTERISTICS OF SELECTED ROTARY BLADES FOR INTER CULTURE OPERATION

A.N. RAJESH¹*, B. SHRIDAR², D. MANOHAR JESUDAS^3
1Agricultural Machinery Research Centre, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, 641003, Tamil Nadu
²Agricultural Machinery Research Centre, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, 641003, Tamil Nadu
³Agricultural Machinery Research Centre, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, 641003, Tamil Nadu
* Corresponding Author : anrajeshtcr@gmail.com

Received : 21-02-2018     Accepted : 01-03-2018     Published : 15-03-2018
Volume : 10     Issue : 5       Pages : 5235 - 5239
Int J Agr Sci 10.5 (2018):5235-5239

Keywords : Rotary blade, Torque, Power, Specific tilling energy, Soil bin
Academic Editor : Pandiselvam R., Dr D. Dhalin
Conflict of Interest : None declared
Acknowledgements/Funding : The research work was supported by University Grants Commission, Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship, New Delhi. The authors are grateful to Agricultural Machinery Research Centre, Agricultural Engineering College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641003 for providing facilities to carry out the research
Author Contribution : All author equally contributed

Mechanical inter row weeding is a system of operation to reduce the consumption of herbicides and the time of operation than the manual method. Powered rotary weeding is one of the efficient methods in all growth stages of the weeds. Different types of blades geometries are used in different conditions. The energy characteristics of the blade geometries depend on the forward speed of operation and rotary speed of the blade. Of the blades tested straight blade was the most effective. Straight blade required about 15 to 20% less torque than the C shaped blade at higher rotary speed. Power requirement of the straight geometry was 0.331 kW and 0.39 kW for C shape at 200 rpm at 1 km h-1. Specific energy requirement was directly proportional with the rotary speed and inversely proportional with the forward speed. Straight blade has 25 to 30% lesser specific energy requirement than the C shaped blade.

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