Experimental Study on the Seeding Performance of the Spoon-Wheel Maize Seed-Metering Device Under Vibration Conditions

Abstract

The seeder was tested and evaluated for field operations vibration characteristics in light of the issue that the spoon-wheel maize precision seeder vibrates due to the field operating conditions, which impairs the performance of the seed-metering device. During field testing, it was discovered that the seed-metering device vibrated greater as the forward speed increased, resulting in a higher peak vibration acceleration. However, fluctuations in forward speed did not affect the frequency distribution of the peak vibration acceleration. Time-domain and spectrogram investigations revealed that the vibration frequency of the seed-metering device was predominantly within 0~10 Hz for seeder operating speeds ranging from 2~6 km/h, with acceleration values spanning from 0.85~1.86 m/s2. An electromagnetic seeding test stand was established in response to the discoveries. The essential variables governing the seeding performance of the spoon-wheel seed-metering device were then investigated using orthogonal tests, such as forward speed, vibration frequency, and vibration acceleration. The empirical results elucidated a hierarchical relationship between these factors and seeding quality. Specifically, vibration frequency emerged to be the predominant factor, followed by vibration acceleration, and forward speed. The seeding quality of the seed-metering device was negatively correlated with increases in forward speed and vibration acceleration, which led to a lower qualified rate, higher leakage rate, and variation coefficient. Overall, the qualified rate, leakage rate, and variation coefficient were all significantly influenced by the three factors.