Investigation of the Relationship between the Cone Index and the Physical and Mechanical Parameters of the Soil of Typical Surfaces of the Movement of Agricultural Tractors and Machines

Abstract

The development of high-performance mobile transport complexes for agricultural purposes is largely based on the results of scientific research. The main direction is to study the mobility properties of robotic complexes in specific natural and climatic conditions of the area. The purpose of this work is to determine the cone index CI for typical surfaces of agricultural machinery movement, based on the physical and mechanical characteristics of agricultural soils. In 2020 year, a large-scale experimental and theoretical study of agricultural soils was conducted for 7 months using a soil penetrometer and equipment for measuring soil density and humidity. The peculiarity of this work is that the study has a spatiotemporal character of changes in the mechanical parameters of soils. Thus, the cone index CI is determined during the agricultural season for five typical plots: the first plot is fallow land located on a slope; the second plot is virgin land; the third section is a plowed field; the fourth section is a dirt road and the fifth section is a dirt road covered with broken bricks. Thus, the study showed a change in the cone index for each site during the year: the first site – 4.8-10.93 kPa; the second site – 5.13-5.32 kPa; the third site – 4.14-4.57 kPa; the fourth site - 4.43 – 11.20 kPa; the fifth site – 5.57 – 5.81 kPa. The data were also approximated and a mathematical model for calculating the cone index from the deformation modulus E, (MPa) was obtained. The obtained mathematical dependencies can be used in the future as the basis for mapping the mobility of any region of the world, as well as in the compilation of the algorithm of the mobile robotic complex.