Simulation of interaction between soil and rotary tiller to predict the power consumption and investigation of surface soil mixing

Simulation methods are essential for understanding the intricate interactions between soil and tillage implements. Using these methods, the impacts of three forward speeds (3, 5, and 7 km.h⁻¹), two tillage depth (100 and 150 mm), and two rotational speed (180 and 230 rpm) on the rotary tiller power consumption were examined, along with an investigation of surface soil mixing in the field. Analysis of variance on the field data indicated that all treatments and their two-way interactions, except for the three-way interaction, had significant effects on power consumption at the 5 % probability level. The simulation successfully predicted power consumption and surface soil mixing, with an average mean relative percentage error of 6.65 % and 9.32 %, respectively. To develop a model for predicting power consumption, tillage operations under 12 additional conditions of soil density and moisture content were simulated utilizing EDEM 2022 software. The mean relative percentage error between the predicted power consumption results by the regression model and the simulation and field data was calculated to be 7.68 % and 7.31 %, respectively, which are within the acceptable range. In this study, the highest level of mixing occurred at 1/3–1/2 of the tillage depth, with the ratio of rotor linear speed to forward speed values between 2 and 5. The findings indicate that the discrete element method (DEM) is a powerful method capable of optimizing and designing rotary tillers.