Computer-aided engineering (CAE) approach to design a cultivator for small farm holdings in the West Bengal state of India

Abstract

Small and marginal farms are one of the big challenges for farm mechanization in the West Bengal state of India. Since the majority of farms are marginal with land holding less than one hectare, use of high capacity equipment is not feasible. The major constraints in the promotion of farm mechanization include the fragmented land holding, low investment capacity of the farmers, the requirement of equipment for each agro-climatic zone of West Bengal, inadequate repairs and maintenance facilities etc. So, small agricultural machinery is gaining importance for research. The cultivator is a secondary tillage tool mostly used in Indian farms. A 5-tyne cultivator may be suitable for small farm lands. So, in this present work, a 5-tyne cultivator was designed with computer aided engineering (CAE) approach. Simultaneously, finite element analysis (FEM) was carried out for different test cases based on soil conditions which are a representation of different zones of West Bengal. The FEM analysis ensures the failure condition of the cultivator for different test cases. With the CAE approach Equivalent (von-Mises) stress, total deformation, and maximum principle stress for each test case were generated. In simulation results, total deformation, equivalent (von-Mises) stress, and maximum principle stress range in between stress results were ranges in between 1.405-1.446 mm, 99.59-102.49 MPa, and 97.25-100.08 MPa respectively. These results were compared with the yield point stress of the material of tine and shovel of the cultivator, which were found to be within the permissible limit. Thus CAE approach is showing a promising tool for promoting farm mechanization in the West Bengal state of India.