Abstract

Taking into account the spatial variability of Algerian agricultural soils, the choice of the form of agricultural tools for the establishment of a crop is often difficult to achieve. The wrong choice will have repercussions on the quality of tillage operations and indirectly on crop yields. Results on the effect of the shapes of the active surfaces of mouldboard plow bodies on the qualitative indices of plowing have shown the importance of this choice. Before choosing the appropriate shape, it is more than necessary to know how to characterize the active surfaces of the working parts of tillage implements. It is in this context that this work was carried out. The objective of this work is the analysis of the behavior of the active surface of two plow bodies most frequently used in Algeria (with movable plaice and duckbill) by the finite element method. The analysis was made by the finite element method, this method allows the understanding of the mechanical behavior of complex surfaces such as those of plow bodies at all points of the surface. The study was carried out in two differents places: the agricultural machinery laboratory at the national agronomic school of Algiers, and laboratory of manufacture of general industrial activities of Algiers. The results obtained showed that the active surface of the plow with blanket is more stressed, which makes it less stable during the execution of plowing. Indeed, the point of application of the resistant force of the ground on the point of the blanket creates a moment in relation to the axis of the plow. On the other hand, the plow is more stable when it is fitted with a duckbill-shaped share, because the resistance force is distributed over the entire length of the sharpened part of the share.