Experimental analysis of a multi-purpose cultivator

Abstract

A mechanical multi-purpose cultivator was designed, fabricated and tested in a series of experiments bearing in mind basic engineering principles with other field requirement using locally available materials. The research work aimed at producing a mechanized tool with newest features to aid Small scale farmers to take advantage of the improved weeding tool for weeds management on farms that is advantageous than the existing tools. This cultivator was produced as a complement if not substitute for the use of the traditional equipment and methods such as manual weeding with tools such as cutlasses and hoes require high drudgery, time consuming and high labour force needed. The machine was modeled using AutoCAD and imported into COMSOL Multi-physics version 5.2 for the analysis. Stationary and Eigen frequency studies were performed to deter mine the stresses and displacements that the frame and handle are subjected to respectively, experiment test was carried out to find comparative performance of the soil interacting tools designed to the cultivator for which the result was immediately observed. The field efficiency was found maximum for Earthing disc (84.18%) followed by Worm Rotary cutter (81.02%) Strip blades rotary cutter (76.47%) and Float weeder (77.26%). The higher field efficiency of the unit was because of the minimum time loss such as turning time and other time during operation. The experimental test revealed that engine powered performance could be useful equipment in modernizing agriculture for small farm holders. The theoretical or effective field capacity (TFC) was determined to be 24m/h, plant damage was found to be 89.95% as the percentage of weeds that will be damaged therefore the machine proves to be effective in weed management. The new cultivator to introduce must be simple, modified with mechanisms that beeves up speeds at the slightest move of the operator to enable all the proposed weeding units function manually at a comparable low price to than traditional devices. Therefore, these conditions would be University of Education,Winneba http://ir.uew.edu.gh xix resolved by introducing a prototype of new cultivator to blacksmiths and mechanical engineering institutions so that they could modify and fabricate it from local materials which might make it affordable and easier to introduce to farmers. This Project will help people to understand the relevance of mechanized weeding, which is not a huge time consuming and significantly improves weeding efficiency as well as the quality of weeding.