Design and test of pre-cutting type sugarcane planter

Objective  To design a pre-cutting type and all-in-one sugarcane planter, so as to open furrows, fertilize, discharge seedlings, cover soil and cover film during a single operation.

Method  The finite element analysis software ANSYS was used for modal analysis of the sugarcane planter. The soil disturbance indexes of three furrow ploughs were obtained through field experiments. The hydraulic transmission system, seeding mechanism, furrow covering device, fertilization mechanism and film covering mechanism were designed. We used field experiments to measure the qualified rates of planting depth and covering soil thickness, planting density, bud injury rate, missing rate, coefficient of variation in stability of fertilization amount and rate of plastic film damage of the sugarcane planter.

Result  The simulation results showed that the frame was prone to resonance when the excitation frequency was from 134.47 to 514.35 Hz, and the maximum displacement could reach 19.67 mm. The results of field experiment showed that the soil disturbance index of convex furrow plough was 17.05, and the maximum furrow depth was 19.13 cm, which met the standard of sugarcane planting furrow depth. The qualified rate of planting depth was 83%, the qualified rate of covering soil thickness was 91%, the planting density was 135 331 hm⁻², the bud injury rate was 4.7%, the missing rate was 4.5%, the coefficient of variation in stability of fertilization amount was 6.1%, and the rate of plastic film damage was 51%, which all met the design criteria of sugarcane planter.

Conclusion  This small pre-cutting type and all-in-one sugarcane planting machine meets the design requirements and can significantly improve sugarcane planting efficiency.