studies on the wear performance of different materials of rotary blades

College of Agricultural Engineering

And Technology, OUAT

Studies on the Wear Performance of

Different Materials of Rotary Blades

Submitted by:

Balagopal Behera

Adm No: 15E/11

OBJECTIVE

1.To study the wear characteristics i.e

weight loss & dimension loss of different

blade materials during operation .

2.To evaluate best material for manufacture

of rotary blades & provide the suitable

blades in the rotary tools

ROTAVATOR

It is an agricultural implement which is used as both primary &

secondary tillage implement.

Rotavator / Rotary Tiller produces a fine seed bed with one or

two passes

ADVANTAGES

Suitable to use in dry as well as wet land cultivation.

Suitable for light and medium soil conditions.

It can immediately prepare the soil, the soil moisture of

previous crop does not go waste

Pudding in wet fields is done smoothly, quickly and efficiently

Used for loosening and aerating soil up to depth of 125 mm-

1000 mm.

Prepares seed bed quickly and economically.

ROTARY BLADES

Rotary blades are mounted on flanges

These flanges are attached to the shaft of rotavator

The shaft is driven by Power-take-off shaft.

Blades are mainly of 3 types

L shape

J shape

C shape

Need of study of wear characteristics

of rotary blades:

Materials used are normally softer than the natural

abrasives in the soil

Most of blades of Rotavator are manufactured

locally which are hardly at par with the standards in

terms of material, shape and size

Rapid wear of soil engaging machine parts is

responsible for most of the idle time for maintenance

Expenditures for repairs and manufacture of spare

parts

The problems of increasing durability are

inseparably linked with the study of friction and wear

patterns of machine parts in operation.

EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP

For studying the wear characteristics of rotary

blades the study were conducted in Rotary soil bin

Two flanges were mounted on the rotary soil bin.

The diameter of each flange was 47 cm

the rpm of each flange were kept in the range 140-

150 rpm

Two rollers of diameter 33 cm and length 36 cm

along with their stands were mounted on the soil bin

for compressing the soil up to 4.5-5 kg/cm2

EXPERIMENTAL SET-UP

EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUE

L-shaped blades of four different makes and

materials were used for the study. Constituent

components of the materials are as follows-

Blade

type

Carbon

(In %)

Sulphur

(In %)

Phosphorus

(In %)

Silicon

(In %)

Manganese

(In %)

Chromium

(In %)

Material

specification

T1 .290 .012 .018 .27 1.49 - LCS (Low carbon

steel)

T2 .280 - - - 1.37 .52 LAS (Low alloy

steel)

T3 .640 .028 .039 .24 1.12 - HCSS (High carbon

spring steel)

T4 .250 .012 .012 .29 1.14 - LCS (Low carbon

steel)


All the blades were weighed then these were

mounted on the two flanges.

Initially soil bin was filled with loam soil.

Then the blades were operated in the soil bin.

After running the blades for 50h in soil bin, blades

were weighed again and loss in weight was noted

down.

Dimensional wear loss was also noted down

Then similar procedure was followed for 100h and

150h time intervals


After that the soil in soil bin was replaced by sandy

loam soil and above said similar procedure was

followed to measure the weight loss, dimensional

wear loss after 50h, 100h and 150h intervals of time

The independent and dependent variables used in

the study are given in Table

Independent Parameters Dependent Parameters

Soil type Weight loss

Blade type Dimensional wear

Number of working hours

RESULTS & DISCUSSION

1. Effect on weight loss of rotary

blades in loam soil After 50h working period weight loss of blade T1 was 0.97%, blade

T2 was 1.14%, blade T3 was 0.27% and blade T4 was 0.29%.

After 100h Blade T1, T2, T3 and T4 showed 2.12%, 3.16%, 0.45%

and 1.96% weight loss respectively

After 150h of working period T1, T2, T3 and T4 showed 3.82%,

6.76%, 0.86% and 2.94% weight loss respectively

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2. Effect on weight loss of rotary

blades in sandy-loam soil After 50h working period weight loss of blade T1 was 1.37%, blade

T2 was 2.02%, blade T3 was 1.3% and blade T4 was 2.05%.


and 6.02% weight loss respectively


7.01%, 4.09% and 10.02% weight loss respectively

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3. Effect on dimensional wear of

rotary blades in loam soil After 50h working period dimensional wear loss of blade T1 was

1.53%, blade T2 was 1.9%, blade T3 was 0.05% and blade T4 was

1.12%.

After 100h, blade T1, T2, T3 and T4 showed 6.0%, 7.37%, 1.65%

and 2.59% dimensional wear loss respectively

After 150h, blade T1, T2, T3 and T4 showed 9.89%, 13.2%, 3.18%


4. Effect on dimensional wear of

rotary blades in sandy-loam soil

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After 50h working period dimensional wear loss of blade T1 was

1.59%, blade T2 was 2.57%, blade T3 was 1.13% and blade T4 was

2.71%.




13.43%, 8.27% and 14.68% dimensional wear loss respectively

CONCLUSION

In this experiment wear characteristics of four

different materials were tested.

it is concluded that for loamy soil T3 shows

maximum resistance to weight loss & dimension loss.

So T3(High carbon spring steel) should be used for

manufacture of rotary blades to be used in loamy soil.

In sandy loam soil also T3 shows maximum

resistance to weight loss & dimension loss. So

T3(High carbon spring steel) should be used for

manufacture of rotary blades to be used in sandy soil.