Factors affecting the performance of cutting mechanism for agricultural crops-A review

The process of cutting agricultural materials stands as one of the pivotal operations, primarily employed in harvesting and threshing to achieve the necessary separation and subsequent fragmentation of plant components. Essential fodder preparation tasks such as straw chopping, baling, and mulching also heavily rely on cutting processes, demanding a substantial amount of energy. This article provides a comprehensive overview of research factors, operational parameters and crop properties that influence the performance of cutting mechanisms for agricultural crops, offering valuable insights to design engineers for crafting suitable incentives to adapt to crop variations.The velocity of cutting and the configuration of blades emerge as critical factors in crop harvesting. The proportion of energy consumption during crop harvesting and threshing ranges from 7.9 to 35.9 percent of the total operational energy expended. Cutting velocity and blade angles directly impact the power demands and efficiency of harvesting machinery. Optimizing these parameters can lead to energy savings during cutting while simultaneously enhancing cutting quality.Furthermore, energy consumption during cutting is closely linked to bending forces. Sharpness and blade material composition significantly influence wear resistance and durability, making it imperative to select appropriate materials that can sustain prolonged use in varying crop conditions. High power requirements are observed with blunt blades, resulting in inefficient cutting. Hence, this paper is expected to significantly aid design engineers, researchers, and other stakeholders in developing efficient cutting mechanisms for new machinery and tailoring cutting mechanisms to suit new species and varieties. It is anticipated that the findings of this study will contribute to the modification of existing harvesters as well.