Combined finite element and multi-body dynamics analysis of effects of hydraulic cylinder movement on ploughbreast of horizontally reversible plough

Hydraulic Cylinder (HC), one of the key components of Horizontally Reversible Plough (HRP), takes the responsibilities for the commuting tillage of Horizontally Reversible Plough (HRP). The dynamic behaviors of HC surely affect the tillage performances. Based on our previously related work, this paper further addresses the effects of HC movements on plough-breast of HRP, especially on plough-shank, due to too much wear on it. For HC, uniform motion was considered in this study. A combined finite element analysis (FEA) and multi-body dynamics analysis (MDA) was implemented to assess both tillage kinematics and kinetics of the plough-breast. These predictions were separately focused on five different HC movement scenarios and two actual HRP tilling conditions at the maximum operation depth, i.e. 0.36m. The loading data due to the HC movements were obtained from an MDA and applied to load a finite element modal of the plough-breast. Our results show that HC movements result in the maximum stress and strain at the plough-shank. Our findings demonstrate that the movements cannot have adverse effects on the service life of the plough-breast.