Development of a variable rate applicator for uniform fertilizer spreading

Environmental impact and economic concerns have driven a variable rate technology(VRT).Spinner spreaders were mainly used for granular fertilizer application since they are simple in design,inexpensive,and can cover large areas.However,the spreader was not adequate for VRT because uniformity changes drastically while varying application rates.Thus,the purpose of this study was to develop a variable rate applicator with uniform spreading patterns.A commercial spreader was modified with a controller and electric actuators for controlling fertilizer discharge directions and amounts.Database was established to determine the optimum discharge direction according to the fertilizer application amount.The uniformity of spreading patterns in accordance with the spread amount per set unit area was evaluated by the statistical coefficient of variation(CV)lower than 15%is assumed to prevent damage to the crop.Test results showed that CVs were 8%,9%,and 8%,respectively,for a tractor in race track mode(adjacent passes in same direction of travel)at 200 kg/hm^(2),300 kg/hm^(2),and 400 kg/hm^(2).This indicates that the fertilizer was spread uniformly,while the coefficient of variation was 12%at 200 kg/hm^(2) in back and forth mode(adjacent passes in the opposite direction of travel).Overall,the results suggest that the race track mode is suitable for operation of a tractor to ensure uniform spreading of fertilizer when applying at variable rates.The future goal is to establish a system for automatic variable rate application according to location in connection with soil analysis and geographic information systems.

Design and experiment of vertical pneumatic fertilization system with spiral Geneva mechanism

In the traditional fertilization method,a large amount of fertilizer is applied,which causes congestion easily.It is not conducive to the sustainable development of agriculture.In this work,a vertical pneumatic fertilization system with a spiral Geneva mechanism was designed according to the operational requirements of variable-rate and smooth fertilization.The uniformity in discharging fertilizer with different spiral angles was simulated and analyzed by extended discrete element method(EDEM)based simulation software,from where the spiral angle of the fertilizer discharge wheel was determined to be 45°.The fertilization system includes a fertilizer apparatus with a spiral Geneva mechanism,whose optimal performance parameters were obtained from the bench experiment.The accuracy and uniformity of the fertilizer application system were taken as the evaluation indicators.The linear relationships of the discharged amount of fertilizer with the rotational speed and the opening of the fertilizer discharging wheel were verified by both static blowing fertilization and field experiments.The static blowing experimental results show that the discharged amount of fertilizer has a high linear correlation and accuracy with both the opening and rotational speed,and the highest correlation occurs with the rotational speed.The rotational speed and opening have significant effects on the discharged amount of fertilizer and the average coefficient of variation.The effect of the rotational speed was the most significant.According to the model obtained by multiple regression fittings,the optimal parameters were determined when the average coefficient of variation was small,the rotational speed was 15.9 r/min and the opening was 34.4 mm.Therefore,the purpose of precise fertilization can be achieved by adjusting the opening or rotational speed in a way to get the exact amount of fertilizer discharged as required by the corresponding crops.The field experiment showed that the variation coefficient of each fertilizer discharged decreases first and then increases with an increasing opening under different rotational speeds,which is consistent with the theoretical value.When the opening was 40 mm or 50 mm,the variation coefficient reached the minimum value,which is far less than the qualified index of 7.8%.In the static blowing experiment and the dynamic field experiment,the stability of the fertilizer discharging device can be significantly enhanced with the utilization of the pneumatic conveying fertilizer.This study can provide a theoretical reference for parameter selection and optimization of vertical spiral fertilization systems.

Variable slip window technology in transition detection on pitching airfoil

In the pitching motion,the unsteady transition and relaminarization position plays an important role in the dynamic characteristics of the airfoil.In order to facilitate the computer to automatically and accurately calculate the position of the transition and relaminarization,a Variable Slip Window Technology(VSWT)suitable for airfoil dynamic data processing was developed using the S809 airfoil experimental data in this paper and two calculation strategies,i.e.,global strategy and single point strategy,were proposed:global strategy and single point strategy.The core of the VSWT is the selection of the window function h and the parameters setting in the h function.The effect of the VSWT was evaluated using the dimensionless pulse strength value(INB),which can be used to evaluate the signal characteristics,of the root mean square(RMS)value of the fluctuating pressure.It is found that:the h function characteristics have a significant influence on the VSWT.The suitable functions are Hn function constructed in this paper and step function.For the left boundary of the magnified area,the step function can obtain the largest INB value,but the robustness is not good.The H1 function(Gaussian-like function,n=1)can show higher robustness while ensuring a large INB value.The two computing strategies,which are single point strategy and global strategy,have their own advantages and disadvantages.The former strategy,that is the single point strategy,can achieve a higher INB value,but the RMS magnification at the feature position needs to be known in advance.Although the INB value obtained by the latter strategy,that is the global strategy,is slightly smaller than the calculation results of the former strategy,it is not necessary to know the RMS magnification at the feature position in advance.So the global strategy has better robustness.The experimental data of NACA0012 airfoil was used to further validate the developed VSWT in this paper,and the results show that the VSWT developed in this paper can still double the INB value of the transition/relaminarization position.The VSWT developed in this paper has certain practicability,which is convenient for the computer to automatically determine the transition/relaminarization characteristics.