Analysis of Manufacturing Methods and Die Design for Rice Transplanter Claws and Combine Harvester Blades in Bangladesh

Abstract

High labor wages brought on by a shrinking agricultural labor force, as well as promises of increased crop yields and decreased labor requirements, have spurred the adoption of agricultural mechanization in Bangladesh. Due to these factors, the market for more complex agricultural machinery, such as rice transplanters and combine harvesters, is growing substantially in Bangladesh. As a result, a market has developed for agricultural workshops to manufacture spare parts within the local communities. However, the current manufacturing practices of local agricultural workshops limit their ability to produce high-quality parts that can compete with spare parts imported from China. This paper presents the analysis of the manufacturing processes used in the manufacturing of two key spare parts for the mechanization of planting and harvesting in Bangladesh: rice transplanter claws and combine harvester blades. The manufacturing processes proposed in this paper use machine tools and manufacturing processes that are ubiquitous in Bangladesh, such as grinders and drill presses. Additional manufacturing processes, such as blanking and forming with punch and die sets, are proposed as the methods for increasing product quality and reducing the manufacturing time required to produce complex geometries, such as those found on rice transplanter claws and combine harvester blades. The results from the experimental testing and the finite element simulations of the deformation processes indicate that local manufacturing of high-quality rice transplanter claws and combine harvester blades is viable with the proposed manufacturing processes.