ASSESSING LOOSENING DEPTH FLUCTUATIONS OF THE WORKING TOOL OF A VOLUMETRIC RECLAMATION RIPPER
The working equipment used for deep loosening of heavy mechanical soils during the restoration of temporarily unclaimed agricultural lands includes a basic machine unit with attachments influenced by significant oscillatory loads during its operation. The variability of the physical and mechanical properties of the treated soil affects the uneven depth of loosening and the machine operation. This is one of the main technological indicators evaluating the performance features of rippers. The research purpose is to analyze the ripper as a dynamic system and estimate the magnitude of the fluctuations in the loosening depth depending on the surface irregularities of the machine's path along the field. The research was carried out according to generally accepted methods using modeling. The authors considered the functioning model of the reclamation ripper in the form of an "environment - machine - technological process" dynamic system, which converts input disturbances and control actions into output ones. The study results of reclamation ripper dynamic models have shown that average terrain irregularities of 5...10 cm result in the amplitude of cutting edge vibrations of a pneumatic-wheeled ripper equaling 8...15 cm and 6...12 cm for the ripper coupled with a caterpillar tractor. According to agrotechnical requirements, a loosening depth of 0.8 m results in the permissible deviations of 8 cm.