SIMULATION OF GRASS STEM CHOPPING WITH NORMAL, INCLINED AND SLIDING CUTTING

The research goal is to study the process of cutting grass stems in the modes of normal, inclined and sliding cutting. The studied processes were simulated in dynamics by using final element analysis in the Ansys software. The tasks solved in the study are relevant for the design and selection of optimal tool parameters. The target of research and mathematical simulation is the technological operation of grass stem chopping. The research subject is the dependence of technological effort and cutting operation on the angle of inclination of the knife blade. The goal was to evaluate the effectiveness of cutting with knives of different blade inclinations angles. The study included several stages - the selection of the mechanical properties of the chopped raw materials and the development of a grass stem model, three-dimensional simulation of tools and equipment, conducting final element analysis and processing of the results. The final element analysis enabled to visually evaluate the behavior of the material at cutting and determine the desired values of the cutting force and energy consumption. The analysis of the calculation results revealed that the modes of inclined and sliding cutting reduced the specific load on the blade. It was also found that the switch to the inclined and sliding modes did not reduce the specific energy consumption compared to the normal cutting mode. According to the simulation results, it was found that the transition from the inclined cutting mode to the sliding one occurred already at the blade inclination of 30°.