Design and Experimental Study of a Bionic Blade for Harvesting the Wild Chrysanthemum Stem

Abstract

Wild chrysanthemum has a high medicinal value. Its mechanized harvest can improve harvesting efficiency, reduce labor costs and improve planting benefits, which is an important way to promote artificial planting. However, one of the difficulties in mechanized harvesting is the large diameter and hardness of the stem, leading to high cutting resistance and power consumption. In order to reduce cutting resistance and power consumption, a bionic cutting blade is designed in this paper by employing the bionics principle and the contour of the cricket’s upper jaw incisor lobe instead of the sharp triangular teeth of the standard harvester blade. Using the finite element method, the cutting-edge angle, cutting angle, and reciprocating speed were taken as test factors. The maximum shear force and power consumption were taken as evaluation indexes. At the same time, the center combination simulation test was carried out to optimize the cutting body and to determine the optimal cutting speed. When the cutting-edge angle was 21°, the cutting angle was 66°, the reciprocating speed was 1.29 m/s, and the maximum shear force and power consumption were minimal. The results showed that the maximum shear force of the bionic cutter was reduced by 18% and the power consumption by 15.8%. The bench test showed that the maximum shear force and power consumption of the bionic cutter were reduced by 10.5% and 10.8%, respectively, when the entire wild chrysanthemum stem was cut. The results can provide a reference for the mechanical harvesting of wild chrysanthemum stems.

Linear Cutting Performance Tests and Parameter Optimization of Poplar Branches Based on RSM and NSGA-II

“…According to the above cutting mechanics analysis of poplar branch and the related literature [22][23][24], it is necessary to investigate the influence of the tool edge angle, tool cutting speed, and tool back angle on the cutting energy and cutting force of poplar branches [25]. The research results will provide important support for developing poplar branch pruners.…”

Dynamic Cutting Performance Test and Parameter Optimization of Longicorn Bionic Blade for Industrial Hemp Harvester

“…Meng Y. et al conducted an explicit dynamic simulation based on Ansys/LS-Dyna on the process of saw cutting mulberry branches, analyzed the interaction process between the saw blade and mulberry branches, and optimized the structural parameters of the saw blade through virtual cutting experiments [18]. Similar research has also been carried out in areas, such as sugarcane topping [19], soybean [20], tomato [21], cotton [22], chrysanthemum stalks [23,24], and wood cutting [25]. The above studies show that numerical simulation methods represented by the finite element method can intuitively and quantitatively analyze the dynamic cutting mechanical properties of the blade on the stalk, and can provide an effective method for the development of low-energy-consumption crop stalk blades.…”