Fatigue Analysis of PTO Gearboxes in Paddy Power Chassis Using Measured Loads

This study aims to analyze the fatigue life of a PTO (power take-off) gearbox used in a paddy field power chassis. The analysis considers factors such as stress concentration, dimensions, surface quality, and load characteristics affecting fatigue life. A finite element simulation was conducted using the Ansys 2022 software to identify the critical point of the PTO shell. The modified nominal stress fatigue analysis method, incorporating a stress adjustment coefficient, was employed to derive the modified S-N curve. Combined with the measured load data of the PTO bench operation, the load data and the 3D model of the PTO shell were imported into the fatigue analysis software n-code to analyze the fatigue life of the PTO gearbox of a paddy field power chassis and compare it with the prediction results from the traditional stress field strength method. The findings indicate that the optimized stress adjustment coefficient method predicts a fatigue life (31,699 h) closer to the actual operational life (20,000 h) compared to the traditional method (39,151 h). This research contributes to the advancement of the analytical techniques for predicting fatigue life in critical components of agricultural machinery.