Safety Analysis of Fastening Device of Agricultural By-Product Collector in Various Ground Conditions

Abstract

In this study, to evaluate the safety of the fastening device, which is a vulnerable part of the agricultural by-product collector, the stress in fastening devices was measured, and the operational and driving safety were analyzed by deriving the static safety factor and fatigue life. The position with the maximum stress in fastening devices was identified through structural analysis simulation, and a stress measurement system was constructed using strain gauges. Test conditions for stress measurement were classified into three operating conditions (collection operation, driving with the loading part lifted to the highest point, and driving with the loading part lifted to the lowest point) and three soil conditions (even pavement, sloped pavement, and farmland). A process for deriving the fatigue life based on the measured stress was constructed by applying the rain-flow counting method, Goodman equation, and Palmgren–Miner’s rule via commercial software. From the stress measurement results, the collection operation exhibited the highest maximum stress, followed by driving with the loading part lifted to the highest point and driving with the loading part lifted to the lowest point. Under all conditions, the static safety factor of the fastening devices was found to be higher than 1.0 (1.16–1.33). The fatigue life of the fastening devices was also found to be longer than the service life of Korean agricultural machinery under all operating conditions. Therefore, the fastening devices are expected to operate safely under generated static and dynamic loads. The agricultural by-product collector can perform agricultural work and drive stably and is expected to contribute to reducing unnecessary labor force for Korean farms.