Design-and-technological and structural schemes of the forage grain crusher have been developed with a feeding device consisting of a drum with straight blades mounted in a housing under the bunker above an adjustable window, and a supply channel for directing the grain falling from the blades of the feeding drum to the crushing area by the working blades of the crusher. With an aim to optimise the technological process of crushing grain preliminary theoretical and experimental investigations of the design-and-technological parameters of the feeding device of the crusher have been carried out. It has been theoretically established that the speed and directions of feeding the grain to the crushing area affect the efficiency of the technological process of crushing. Experimental studies show that a change in the value of the peripheral speed (linear velocity of the outer edges) of the blades of the feeding drum significantly changes the main technical and economic indicators of the technological process of producing crushed grain forage-the efficiency (throughput) of the machine and the specific energy consumption. It was found that entry of the grain into the crushing area from the feeder at a speed equal to or close to the peripheral speed of the drums for conditioning results in an increase in the efficiency of the crusher by 2.2 times and reduces the energy intensity of the process by 1.6 times. In addition, the best indicators for the production of crushed forage are observed within the range of speeds for the introduction of grain into the crushing area 8...9 m s-1 , which practically corresponds to the peripheral speed of the blades of the feeding drum and the rollers for crushing. The investigations allow developing a grain crusher at a design stage with a high-quality product, minimum energy intensity of the working process and maximum possible throughput.

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