METHODOLOGY FOR ASSESSING THE INTERACTION OF RUNNING SYSTEMS OF SPRINKLERS WITH WATERLOGGED SOIL

The operation of wide-range sprinklers on waterlogged soils is associated with a serious problem of intensive rutting, leading to disruption of irrigation technology, degradation of the soil structure and significant economic losses. This problem becomes particularly acute in the conditions of modern intensive agriculture, where the requirements for the preservation of soil fertility become a priority. The existing disparate methods for assessing the interaction of running systems with the soil do not allow for an adequate comparative analysis and selection of optimal modes of operation of equipment. In the course of the study, a comprehensive comparative analysis of two main groups of techniques was carried out: approaches based on assessing changes in soil bearing capacity under the influence of irrigation regime, and WES models using the cone index as an integral indicator of soil strength. Mathematical statistics were used to verify the results, including the calculation of the mean square deviation, coefficient of variation, Student's t-test, as well as methods of dimensionless parameter transformation and regression analysis. The conducted research made it possible to identify the structural commonality of existing computational dependencies, which became the basis for the development of a fundamentally new approach. The scientific novelty of the work is the proposal of a generalized soil strength parameter that comprehensively takes into account the bearing capacity after irrigation, the cone index, humidity and soil density. Based on this parameter, a universal calculation model has been developed that demonstrates increased accuracy in predicting track depth compared to existing analogues. For the practical application of the model, the weighting coefficients for the main types of soil conditions are determined. The proposed unified approach ensures comparability of results for different types of soils and designs of running systems, which is confirmed by high convergence with the results of previous studies. An important advantage of the model is its adaptability – the ability to adjust coefficients based on field tests for specific operating conditions.