Influence of the forward direction surface slope on the sowing depth operation performance of the mechanical profiling maize seeder

The change in the forward direction surface slope (FDSS) has a significant influence on the sowing depth operating performance (SDOP) of the mechanical profiling maize seeder sowing depth adjustment device (SDAD).This study analyses and identifies the main factors affecting the SDOP of the SDAD. RecurDyn simulation of FDSS and spring initial increment (SII) on SDAD downforce show that, taking the non-tilting state (NTS) as a benchmark, the increase in downforce does not exceed 7.29 % in the range from −25° to 0°. Within the range of 0° to 25°, the downforce decreases by 26.42 %. The Multi-body Dynamics and Discrete Element Method (MBD-DEM) coupled simulations of the impact of FDSS on SDOP show that as the absolute value of the FDSS increases, relative to the NTS,the average of sowing depth (ASD) changes by −10.34–6.33 %, the qualification rate of sowing depth (QRSD) changes by −41.21–6.78 %,the coefficient of variation of sowing depth (CVSD) changes by −2.23–2.99 %. Under different FDSS, as the SII increases and the operation speed (OS) decreases, the ASD increases from 38.52 mm to 54.91 mm, the QRSD increases from 10.56 % to 99.27 %, and the CVSD decreases from 17.32 % to 2.87 %. The field experiment results showed that the error between the simulation and field experiment results for the SDOP was less than 7 %. A mathematical model of the FDSS, SII and OS is established, make the SDOP under the FDSS converges to that of the NTS.