ANSYS/LS-DYNA Simulation and Experimental Study of a Corrugated Hob-Type Laver Harvesting Device

Harvesting of laver is an important link in the laver culture chain, and a new type of corrugated harvesting blade with a curved edge angle was designed to solve the problems of low cutting ratio in laver harvesting. The mechanical model of the corrugated blade cutting laver was established to elucidate the dynamic characteristics of laver cutting under single-point support. Based on the measured biomechanical characteristic parameters of Porphyra yezoensis, a rigid-flexible coupling model of laver harvesting was established based on ANSYS/LS-DYNA2022R2. The Box–Behnken design (BBD) test method was used to study the influence of the main structural parameters of the corrugated blade on the harvesting of laver, and the optimal structural parameter combinations of the corrugated blade were determined as follows: a slip angle of 21°, blade inclination angle of 106°, and curved edge angle of 15°; the slip-cutting mowing force of the laver was 11.18 N and the tensile force was 1.4 N. A bench test was completed, and the results showed that the corrugated blade could be used for harvesting laver. The results showed that the average loss rate of the harvesting equipment was 1.85% and the average net recovery rate was 98.75% when the corrugated blade rotational speed was 900 rpm and the boat speed was 0.71 m/s; compared to the traditional straight-blade hob-type harvesting machine, the cutting force on laver has increased by 45.26%, and the tensile force has decreased by 68.35%, which satisfied the requirements of laver harvesting. This study provides theoretical and simulation model references for the design, analysis, and optimization of laver harvesting equipment.