Design and Simulation of a Garlic Seed Metering Mechanism

• Published in: Agriculture (Basel) Vol. 11; no. 12; p. 1239
• Main Authors: Guo, Huiping, Cao, Yazhou, Song, Wenyuan, Zhang, Jiao, Wang, Changlin, Wang, Chensi, Yang, Fuzeng, Zhu, Lin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.12.2021
• Subjects: Agricultural production; Design; Discrete element method; discrete element modeling; Efficiency; Garlic; garlic planting; Morphology; seed metering device; Seeding; Seeds; Simulation; Simulation analysis; Sustainable development; China
• DOI: 10.3390/agriculture11121239
• ISSN: 2077-0472

According to the agronomic requirements of garlic sowing, the garlic morphology is studied and a garlic seed metering mechanism with excellent seeding performance is designed. Based on this design, a new garlic seeding machine with an adjustable-size seeding device is developed to realize efficient single-seed metering and seeding of different varieties of garlic. Further, the design scheme of the garlic seeder prototype is established, with the key components of the garlic seeding being designed on the basis of the garlic seeding mechanism. To achieve garlic single-seed metering for different varieties of garlic, the optimal adjustment size of the garlic seed metering device is determined through discrete element simulation analysis. A field experiment confirms the effectiveness of applying the proposed garlic planter to field sowing in terms of the metrics of missing seed and multiple seed rates. The results of the discrete element simulation test reveal that an adjustment size of 40 mm yields the best single-seed metering performance. At an operating speed of 15–35 rpm, the metering device can achieve more than an 80% qualification rate of single-seed metering, with a unit speed of 0.628–1.465 m/s. Thus, the developed garlic seeding device meets the requirements of precision sowing in China and can effectively realize the mechanized planting of garlic.