Simulation and Experiment on Conveying Device of Cutting System of Small Sugarcane Harvester (RESEARCH NOTE)

The main problem is less efficiency and blocking during sugarcane harvesting in hilly areas. This paper researched the cutting and transporting system of a small sugarcane harvester using virtual prototype technology. The dynamics simulation analyses were carried out to study the transporting status with different friction coefficients between the sugarcane and the spiral and different numbers of the rubber around the drum. The virtual test results show that increasing the friction coefficient can enhance the transporting speed of the sugarcane, and adding more rubbers on the drum can also increase the speed further. Then, the paper analyzed the logistic process of the cut sugarcane with different friction coefficients between the sugarcane and the spiral and four rubbers mounted on the drum based on the high-speed photography in the field simulation test. The results also show that the transporting speed of the cut sugarcane can increase 40% when the friction coefficient and the rubbers are added. The simulation and field test results verify that the virtual prototype technology can provide reference for the development of the physical prototype.