IRJET- Interaction Effect of Operating Parameters of Rotary Tiller Blade on Tillage Quality Under Soil Bin Condition

International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 06 Issue: 04 | Apr 2019 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072
© 2019, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.211 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 3680
Interaction Effect of Operating Parameters of Rotary Tiller Blade on
Tillage Quality under Soil Bin Condition
Philipo William Kulaya1, Mayanglambam Ukil Singh2
1Agricultural Engineer, Department of Land Use Planning and Management, Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security
and Cooperatives, Tanzania
2Assistance Professor, Dept of Agricultural Engineering, North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and
Technology, Nirjuli, Arunachal Pradesh, India
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Abstract - The blade shape, operating parameters and soil
physical properties are the key parameters come to
pronouncement for pulverizing soil condition. J shape
rotavator blades was tested in the laboratory under soil bin
condition for medium textured soil at controlling soil physical
properties namely moisture content (15±1 %), bulk density
(1.20±1 g/cm3) and Cone Index(80±12kPa).The performance
results were analyzed in terms of tilling quality of soil withthe
effects of three operating parameters namely tilling depth,
forward speed and rotary speed. Experiments were designed
by design expert software for central composite randomized
design and statistically analyzed and evaluated by response
surface methodology. The average values of soil mean mass
diameter for J shape rotavator blades was found to be 2.31
mm with their optimum tilling depth, forward speed and
rotary speed were found to be 100 mm, 400 rpm and 2.0 km/h
respectively.
Key Words: J shape rotavator blade, soil bin, soil physical
properties, operating parameters, tilling quality, design
expert software, response surface methodology.
1. INTRODUCTION
Tillage is the most important unit operation in
agriculture. It is done mainly to loosen the upper layer of
soil, to mix the soil with fertilizer and to remove weeds. As a
result of this processing the water-air, thermal and nutrient
regimes of the soil are improved in theinterestofthegrowth
and development of crops. Rotavator mixes and pulverizes
the tilled soil well; resulting in a good clod size distribution.
The number of tillages passes required to achieve an
acceptable tilth quality, using rotavator is also significantly
reduced (Makange, 2015) in comparison to the series of
operations that would result in the same tilth quality with
the use of passive tools. Also (Subrata et al., 2014; Rajesh et
all., 2018) conducted research on the soil-blade interaction
of a rotary tiller under soil bin condition.
Soil bin is a generic term for a test facility for
studying soil dynamics, especially on the soil machine
interaction research in agriculture. Generally, a soil bin
facility consists of soil bin, tool carriage, processing trolley,
drive system, instrumentation and data acquisition systems
(Mandal et al. 2014). The application of soil bin for soil
machine interaction research was initially established by
several research institutes, such as the National Tillage and
Machinery Laboratory (NTML) in the United States of
America (NRAM, 1983). Ideally, in the field, the moisture
content varies throughout the entire field as it is not under
controlled condition. But in a soil bin moisture content can
be controlled as per the requirement. The water content of
the soil is an important property that controls its behavior.
Usually, the soil parameters in soil bins such as variation of
cone index and soil compaction level may be kept constant
(Mardani et al. 2010 and Rajesh et all., 2018).
Looking to the present practice of seed bed preparation
among the farmers and the implements used to perform
different operations, there is a need to find out the suitable
alternative either operation wise or equipment wise by
which cost of operation can be reduced and efficiency of the
cropping system can be improved. In this research,
performance of rotavator with J shape blades has been
evaluated and compared based on soil tillage quality at
different operating parameters by maintained soil physical
properties under soil bin condition formediumtexturedsoil.
2. MATERIALS AND METHODS
Laboratory experiments were conducted in the College
of Agricultural Engineering and Post Harvest Technology,
Central Agricultural University, Ranipool,SikkimstateIndia.
All laboratory tests were carried out as per the
recommendation of the Regional Network for Agricultural
Machinery (RNAM, 1983).
2.1 Moisture content
Moisture content of the soil was determined by oven
drying method. Three samples weretakenfromthedifferent
locations of the test area in different moisture boxes. These
were kept in oven for 24 hours at the temperature of 105 ºC.
The mass of wet and dry samples were determined and
average moisture content on dry basis calculated.
Moisture Content (% db) = …...1
where, Ww = Weight of wet soil, and Wd = Weight of dry soil.

2.2 Bulk Density
Bulk density of soil was calculated by using following
standard formula:
Bulk density of soil = …………2
where, W = Weight of dry mass of soil (g) and V = Volume of
metallic core (cm3).
2.3 Soil mean mass diameter
For determining the Soil Mean Mass Diameter (SMMD)
soil sample was allowed to pass through a set of sieves
(electric powered sieve shaker). Weighed the soil retained
on the different aperture sizes of sieve (2, 2.8, 4.0, 5.6, 8.0
and 11.2). SMMD wascalculatedusingthefollowingformula:
(Mehta et al.,1995).
….……3
Where, X = mean of measured diameter ofsoil clodsretained
on the largest aperture sieve, W = the total weight of the soil
sample and A, B, C, D, E and F = weight of soil retained at
each sieve (kg).
2.4 Cone Index
Cone index is an indication of soil hardness and is
expressed as force per unit area required for penetrating a
cone into the soil. Cone index was measured by using cone
penetrometer up to a depth of 134 mm. The diameter and
height of cone were measured andthensurfaceareasofcone
was calculated by using the following formula:
Surface area of cone, 𝐴=𝜋𝑟𝑙+𝜋𝑟2 ….…….4
Where, r = Radius of cone, and l = Slant height of cone.
Cone penetrometer wascalibratedfirst,inthelaboratory,
for the applied known weights and a linear relationship was
found as shown in Fig -1.
Fig-1: Calibration of the cone penetrometer (dial gauge
type)
2.5 Statistical analysis
The laboratory data were statisticallyanalyzedbyDesign
Expert software version 11.1.2.0 using response surface
methodology (RSM) for central composite randomized
design (CCRD) with quadratic model. Analysis of variance
(ANOVA) was used to evaluate the significance of each
parameter and the interactions between parameters on
tillage quality. Comparisons among treatment means, were
conducted using F-test at p = 0.01, 0.03 and 0.001 level.
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
3.1 Effect ofoperatingparametersontillagequality
The effect of operating parameters (forward speed,
rotary speed and depth) of J shape rotavator blades on
tillage quality (SMMD) at maintainable soil physical
properties (cone index, bulk density and moisture content)
in laboratory under soil bin condition were observed and
analyzed in this experiment. The results are shown in the
Table1 and Fig-2.
As shown in Table 1 and Fig-2, J shape rotavator blade
with different operating parameters (forward speed, rotary
speed and depth of operation) have significant effect on soil
tillage quality (SMMD). This means the soil mean mass
diameters (SMMD) resulting from the analysis of soil
aggregate sizes obtained after tillage operationusingJshape
rotavator blade was statistically different. However, in the
same experiment with different operating parameters; at
experiment 11, maximum SMMD(3.68mm)wasobservedat
(2 km/h, 232 rpm, 100 mm) andminimumSMMD(1.11 mm)
in experiment 8 and 10 at (1.5 km/h, 500 rpm, 80 mm) and
(2.5 km/h, 300 rpm, 80 mm) respectively.
Table -1: Effect of tillage quality of J shape rotavator blade
on operating parameters by maintaining soil physical
properties.
Cone Index (80±12kPa), Bulk density (1.20±1g/cm3),
Moisture content (15±1%), Medium textured soil
Run
Forward
Speed
(Km/h)
Rotary
Speed
(rpm)
Depth of
operation
(mm)
Smmd
(mm)
1 2** 400*** 100**** 2.312*
2 2** 568*** 100**** 1.628*
3 1.5** 300*** 120**** 2.78*
4 2.5** 500*** 120**** 2.78*
5 2** 400*** 134**** 3.10*
6 2** 400*** 100**** 2.312*
7 2** 400*** 100**** 2.312*
8 1.5** 500*** 80**** 1.11*
9 1.5** 300*** 80**** 1.85*
10 2.5** 300*** 80**** 1.11*

11 2** 232*** 100**** 3.68*
12 1.2** 400*** 100**** 1.28*
13 2** 400*** 66**** 1.526*
14 2.5** 500*** 80**** 1.85*
15 2** 400*** 100**** 2.312*
16 2.8** 400*** 100**** 2.99*
17 2.5** 300*** 120**** 2.78*
18 2** 400*** 100**** 2.312*
19 2** 400*** 100**** 2.312*
20 1.5** 500*** 120**** 1.67*
*, **, ***, **** - significant at 1, 3, 1, 0.1 % level respectively,
Run - series of running experiments.
Fig -2: Effect of operating parameters (forward speed,
rotary speed and depth) on soil mean mass diameter
3.2 Effect of tillage depth on soil mean mass
diameter (SMMD)
As shown in Table 1, each tilling depth affected
significantly on SMMD resulted fromJshape rotavator blade.
This means the soil mean mass diameters resulting fromthe
analysis of soil aggregate sizes after tillage operation using J
shape rotavator blade were statistically different. However,
in the same depth of operation it found that, Maximum
SMMD (3.68 mm) was observed at 100 mm depth in
experiment 11, minimum SMMD (1.11 mm) wasobservedat
80 mm depth of operation in experiment 8 and 10
respectively.
Fig -3: Effect of tillage depth on soil mean mass diameter
Fig -4: Interaction effect of rotary and forward speed on
soil mean mass diameter at average tillage depth
Results show that, the value of SMMD for J shape
rotavator blade during tillage operation increased with
increase tillage depth at optimum conditions (Fig.3).
However, in (Fig.4), it shows the interaction effect of rotary
and forward speed by controlling average tillage depth.
SMMD increased by increase forward speedanddecrease by
increase rotary speed at an average tillage depth of 100mm.
3.3 Effect of forward speed on soil mean mass
diameter (SMMD)
As shown in Table 1, each forward speed affected
in the same forward speed it found that, Maximum SMMD
(3.68 mm) was observed at 2 km/h in experiment 11,
minimum SMMD (1.11 mm) was observed at 1.5 km/h and
2.5 km/h of forward speed in experiment 8 and 10
respectively.

Fig -5: Effect of forward speed on soil mean mass diameter
Fig -6: Interaction effect of tillage depth and rotary speed
on soil mean mass diameter at average forward
speed.
rotavator blade during tillage operation increased with
increase forward speed at optimum conditions (Fig.5).
However, in (Fig.6), it shows the interaction effect of tillage
depth and rotary speed by controlling average forward
speed. SMMD increased by increase tillage depth and
decrease by increase rotary speed at an average forward
speed of 2 km/h.
3.3 Effect of rotary speed on soil mean mass
diameter (SMMD)
As shown in Table 1, each rotary speed affected
in the same rotary speed it found that, Maximum SMMD
(3.68 mm) was observed at 232 rpm in experiment 11,
minimum SMMD (1.11 mm) was observed at 500 and 300
rpm of rotary speed in experiment 8 and 10 respectively.
Fig -7: Effect of rotary speed on soil mean mass diameter
Fig -8: Interaction effect of tillage depth and forward speed
on soil mean mass diameter at average rotary speed.
rotavator blade during tillage operation decreased with
increase rotary speed at optimum conditions (Fig.7).
However, in (Fig.8), it shows the interaction effect of tillage
depth and forward speed by controlling average rotary
speed. SMMD increased by increase forward speed and
decrease by decrease tillage depth ataveragerotaryspeedof
400 rpm. Similar results were reported for operating
parameters on rotary tiller blade (Rajesh et all., 2018).
4. CONCLUSION
From the study it is concluded that. J shape rotavator
blade interaction on operating parameters in a controlled
physical property under soil bin laboratory condition for
medium textured soil was observedandanalyzedintermsof
tillage quality. It has been found out that, to get better
performance, J shape rotavator blade should be operated at
about 100 mm tillage depth, 400 rpm rotary speed and with
the forward speed of 2 km/h. Among the operating

parameters, there was considerable significant difference in
soil tillage quality, rotary speedwassignificantlyhigherthan
forward speed and tillage depth (Table-1), therefore to
attain the desirable soil tilling quality it required to increase
rotary speed while tillage depth and forwardspeedrequired
to decrease to optimum condition.
REFERENCES
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IRJET- Interaction Effect of Operating Parameters of Rotary Tiller Blade on Tillage Quality Under Soil Bin Condition

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