Rotary Tiller Design Parameters, V: Kinematics

James G. Hendrick, William R. Gill

MEMBER MEMBER
ASAE ASAE

ABSTRACT
theoretical analysis of the motion of a rotary
A tiller blade. The equations of motion are used
to analyze the characteristics of the trochoidal path.
An instant center technique is used to determine the
direction of motion and velocity at any point on the
trochoidal path.

INTRODUCTION
Any point on the rotor of a rotary tiller travels a
path which is the combination of the machine's
forward motion, the rotor rotational motion, and the
distance from the rotational axis to the point of
interest. In any attempt to analyze the operation
of such a machine, it is necessary to understand its
kinematics, i.e., the study of its motion without
reference to the forces which cause the motion. The
kinematics is presented here for a machine having
its axis parallel to the soil surface and perpendicu- FIG. 1 Graph of the path of a point on a forward-turning rotary
lar to the direction of motion. tiller [NTML Photo No. P-10,280a].

EQUATIONS OF MOTION
co = angular velocity of rotor (Note: in forward
A point on a rotor describes a trochoidal path rotation, according to mathematical con-
during operation (sometimes referred to as a prolate vention, co is negative);
or curate cycloid, depending on the distance of the a = |co|t = angular rotation, measured from
point from the rotor axis). As a tiller moves to the the x-axis, in the direction of rotation.
right, it is considered to have forward rotation if the Where velocities, accelerations, and directions
rotor is turning clockwise, and reverse rotation if of the point are concerned, the more direct approach
the rotor rotation is counterclockwise; this analysis (and one which lends itself to computer analysis)
treats both cases. The starting point is assumed to is:
be with the rotor axis at the origin of the reference
axes, with the point of interest on the + x axis. The x = v - ROJ sin (cot) [2a]
parametric equations which describe the path of a
point are (see Fig. 1): y = + Rw cos (cjt) [2b]
2
:
x = - Rw cos (o;t) [3a]
vt + R cos cot [la]
y = - RCJ 2 sin (cot). . . [3b]

y = + R sin cot, [lb]
where
R = rotor radius, or the distance from the ro-
tational axis to the point of interest;
t = time;
v = machine forward velocity, and its value is
between 0 < v < Rco;
Article was submitted for publication in August 1977; reviewed
and approved for publication by the Power and Machinery Division
of ASAE in December 1977.
The authors are: JAMES G. HENDRICK, Agricultural Engineer
and WILLIAM R. GILL, Director, National Tillage Machinery
Lab., USDA-ARS, Auburn, AL.
The x and y components of velocity are x and y, velocity
V = (x2 + y 2 ) 1 / 2 in the direction determined by tan ip =
y/x, where ip is the angle between the x-axis and
the velocity vector V.
Accelerations are similarly a = (x2 + y7)1'2 =
Rco2, with the direction of a calculated from y = cot +
TT, (tan ip = y / x ) .
INSTANT CENTER ANALYSIS
Another useful approach to analyzing the kinematics
of a rotary tiller arises from considering the point of
interest P to be located on an extension of a radius r
of a hypothetical circle which rolls wfthout slipping
along a line -y = r (see Fig. 2). [This example is for

658 TRANSACTIONS of the ASAE—1978

 270 315 0 45 90 135 180 225 270
ANGLE OF ROTATION, a (°)

FIG. 3 Ratio of the distances from the point of interest to the Instant
Center L and to the rotary axis R for a range of A, for forward or
reverse rotation [NTML Photo No. P-10,280d].

of any point. To calculate IC,P = £, the following

relation can be used for forward or reverse rotation:
FIG. 2 Graphical representation of the Instant Center concept [NTML
Photo No. P-10,280b]. IC, P = C = [ R 2 + r 2 - 2rR sin a ] 1 I2 [6]

Using the relation for the ratio of peripheral velocity

forward rotation; for reverse rotation the circle would
to forward velocity (Hendrick and Gill, 1971c) A =
roll along a line y = r.]
U/v = Rco/rco = R/r, we can obtain:
This concept also permits the use of the simplifying
Instant Center (IC) technique. In this analysis, if fi= R [ l + ^ " 2 - 2X-1 sin a ] 1 I2 [7]
at one instant a point on (or an extension of) the
body has zero velocity, then the translational and
rotational motions of the body can be considered Then the velocity of the point is calculated from
to be simple rotation about that point (Meriam, 1971).
In the case of the trochoid, the instant center is the V= MC [8]
point of contact between the hypothetical rolling circle
and the line y = -r. The circle itself represents the
Fig. 3 shows the relationship £/R vs. a for a range
body centrode (locus of instant center points on the
of A values. For a graphical solution, the velocity
body) and the line y = -r represents the space centrode
of any point is most easily obtained by using
(locus of instant centers in space).
During the instantaneous rotation about IC, all V = vfir- 1 [9]
points in the body have the same angular velocity
about the instant center, and the direction of the in- As stated previously, the direction of the velocity
stantaneous velocity of any point is perpendicular
to the line joining the point with the instant center. vector V* is perpendicular to W, P. Fig. 4 represents
The magnitude of the velocity of any point is the the angle of the velocity vector with the x-axis of any
product of the radial distance to the point from IC a for a range of values of A.
times the angular velocity co (co being the angular The maximum and minimum velocities occur at
velocity of the tiller about its axis). a = 270° and a = 90° respectively, and their mag-
It is easy to obtain directions and motions of points nitudes are (R + r(co and (R - r)co.
by this technique. If the forward velocity and the ro-
tational speed are known, the radius of the hypo- VALUE OF THE PARAMETER "r"
thetical rolling circle can be determined by the re- In the preceding section, the radius r of the hypo-
lation: thetical rolling circle was used frequently. This con-
ceptual technique has some interesting applications.
r = v|o;r 1 [4] The ratio A of peripheral velocity to forward
velocity (a valuable operating parameter) can be
determined from:
The instant center (IC) is located a distance r below
the axis of the rotor on y = -r. The peripheral velocity
U of any point with respect to the rotor axis is:

U= RICJI [5] v r I co I r

The length of IC,P (Fig. 2) may be calculated or mea- The critical height (h c , distance above the maxi-
sured to determine the absolute velocity and direction mum tillage depth at which a blade must have its

^ ^ T R A N S A C T I O N S of the ASAE 659


270 315 0 45 90 135 180 225
ANGLE OF ROTATION, a (°)
FIG. 4 Angle of the velocity vector vs. angle of rotation for a range
of A, for forward rotation [NTML Photo No. P-10,280c].
greatest clearance to prevent contact between the
trailing edge of the blade and uncut soil) is found
from:
hc = R - r
hc = R + r
for forward and reverse rotation, respectively. The
velocity vector V is vertical at y = -r or y = + r for
forward and reverse rotation, respectively.
CURVE ANALYSIS
A great deal can be learned about the character-
istics of the trochoidal curve by an analysis of the
parametric equations, without having to construct
the curve from an equation (Merritt, 1962).
Intercepts: x-intercepts (where y = 0) are at x =
vnrr/co + R cos nrr,
where n is an interger.
Symmetry: The trochoid is symmetric about the
lines x = r(2n - 1)TT/2, i.e., where a = TT/2, 3TT/2,
5TT/2,....
Asymptotes: There are no asymptotes since the
curve does not approach any fixed straight line as
the curve is extended to infinity.
Slope, maxima and minima: Slope is determined
by the value of y/x. The maxima and minima occur
where the slope is zero (i.e., a = TT/2, 3TT/2, 5rc/2,...).
A maximum occurs where cot = ...-7TT/2, -3TT/2,
TT/2, 5TT/2,...; a minimum occurs where cot = ...-5TT/2,
-TT/2, 3TT/2, 7TT/2,...
Inflection points and concavity: Inflection points
can be determined in a number of ways. The primary
method is to determine points at which a curve changes
its concavity. If the tangent to a curve rotates clock-
wise as the point of tangency moves from left to right,
the curve is concave downward. The tangent to a
660
trochoid (which represents a forward-turning tiller)
always rotates clockwise, but the point of tangency
changes its direction of movement. Thus, the curve
is concave downward above the line y = ± r (see Fig. 2
in the section on instant center analysis), since the
point of tangency changes direction at those points.
These same points are, by definition, inflection points,
yet the tangent does not cross the curve.
Curvature: The curvature K at any point is de-
termined (Vygodsky, 1975) by:
x y
K- r "l2 [i2]
[x2 +y 2
] 3
/ 2
Substituting from equations [2] and [3] and simplify-
ing,
R[X~2 -2X-1 sin(a) + 1] 3 2
/
270
where
A = the absolute value of the ratio of rotary
velocity to forward velocity; A = IRco/vl.
The radius of curvature is K"1.
OTHER RELATIONSHIPS
There are a number of other kinematic relation-
[11a] ships which can become important, depending upon
[lib]
the type of analysis involved. They have been de-
veloped and presented previously. They are refer-
enced here for completeness.
1. Bite length (tilling pitch) (Hendrick and Gill,
1971a).
2 Cutting path length (Hendrick and Gill, 1971b).
3 Volume of soil slice (Hendrick and Gill, 1971c).
4 Thickness of soil slice (Borisov, 1969).
5 Blade clearance angle (Hendrick and Gill, 1974).
6 Ridginess of uncut bottom (Gill and Hendrick,
1976).
References
1 Borisov, V. N. 1969. The question of determining the thickness
of the chip of soil working rotary tillers. Res. in Mech. and Elect.
of Agric, Kiev, USSR, pp. 28-33. (NTML Translation No. 493)
2 Gill, W. R. and J. G. Hendrick. 1976. The irregularity of soil
disturbance depth by circular and rotating tillage tools. TRANS-
ACTIONS of the ASAE 19(2): 230-233.
3 Hendrick, J. G. and W. R. Gill. 1971a. Rotary tiller design
parameters, I: Direction of rotation. TRANSACTIONS of the ASAE
14(4):669-674, 683.
4 Hendrick, J. G. and W. R. Gill. 1971b. Rotary tiller design
parameters, II: Depth of operation. TRANSACTIONS of the ASAE
14(4):675-678.
5 Hendrick, J. G. and W. R. Gill. 1971c. Rotary tiller design
parameters, III: Ratio of peripheral and forward velocities. TRANS-
ACTIONS of the ASAE 14(4):679-683.
6 Hendrick, J. G. and W. R. Gill. 1974. Rotary tiller design
parameters, IV: Blade clearance angle. TRANSACTIONS of the
ASAE 17(l):4-7.
7 Meriam, J. L. 1971. Dynamics. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., NY.
8 Merritt, F. S. 1962. Mathematics Manual. McGraw-Hill Book
Co., Inc., NY.
9 Vygodsky, M. 1975. Mathematical Handbook, Higher Mathe-
matics. Mir. Pub., Moscow, USSR.
TRANSACTIONS of the ASAE—1978