Bounding Solutions for Performance of Vibratory Plows

Abstract

This paper discusses the reduction in the applied drawbar force required to penetrate soil with vibrating plows. Harmonically forced linear and orbital motions of a plow blade are investigated. A rigid blade, vibrating with constant amplitude and a two-parameter soil model is used to represent the system. The assumption that the soil force opposes the instantaneous blade velocity vector is sufficient to describe the soil-blade interaction. Bounding solutions, which relate applied drawbar force to average plowing speed and other system parameters, are obtained as simple equations. These equations put into perspective the relative merits of each of these vibratory motions.