Effect of Performance of Soil Cultivator with Different Surface Textures of Shovel Wing

Cultivating the soil is a necessary measure to ensure the growth of potatoes, and it has a significant impact on potato yield. In this study, a soil cultivator with a textured shovel wing was designed to address the problem that soil cultivators have poor working performance. Based on a combination of discrete element simulation and a digital soil trench verification test, the effects of the structure parameters of the surface textures on the traction resistance and soil fragmentation rate of the soil cultivator with a textured shovel wing were studied. These parameters were optimized to provide a basis for the design of the soil cultivator. The main research results of this paper are as follows. (1) The factors influencing the traction resistance of the soil cultivator were as follows: blade penetration angle > convex hull distance > convex hull diameter. The convex hull diameter was the main factor affecting the soil fragmentation rate. The traction resistance of the soil cultivator with a textured wing was reduced by 9.49%, and the soil fragmentation rate was increased by 10.67%, showing that the quality of soil cultivation was significantly improved. (2) The best parameters for the texture structure of the shovel wing were a blade penetration angle of 26°, a convex hull diameter of 34.4 mm, and a convex hull distance of 28.5 mm. (3) The relative errors between the simulation and the soil trench test for the traction resistance and the soil fragmentation rate were 2.60% and 13.97%, respectively. This study can provide technical support for the design of soil cultivators and is of great significance in improving the quality of soil cultivators.