Design a biomimetic disc using geometric features of the claws

Abstract

This study presents a numerical investigation regarding the stress distribution on the new designed disc harrow using the ANSYS software. A conventional disc, notched disc, and a biomimetic design inspired by the claw of the leatherwing were analyzed in two conventional plowed and unplowed soils and three tillage depths (4, 7 and 10 cm). Stress analysis for all treatments showed that the highest stress was imposed at the disc-stem junction. Meanwhile the highest deformation occurred at the lowest and the most external part of the discs (land line). The results obtained in this study indicated that the maximum stress exerted from tilling soil to discs increases linearly with tillage depth in both plowed and unplowed soils. Given these results, the maximum stress also at the disc-stem junction changed linearly with tillage depth for all of the three geometric shapes. For the conventional examined harrow in unplowed soil at a depth of 10 cm, the highest maximum stress was 484 MPa and the maximum deformation was 1.84 mm. Using the new geometry for discs in plowed soil, the highest maximum stress and the maximum disc deformation were obtained equal to 130 MPa and 0.92 mm at the same tillage condition, respectively. For all treatments in plowed or unplowed soil, the lowest stress occurred with the biomimetic harrow. The soil- disc interaction stresses exerted on the notched harrow was lower than the conventional disc.