DEM and soil bin study on a biomimetic disc furrow opener

To reduce the resistance and energy consumption of disc furrow openers, biomimetic coupling disc furrow openers (BCDFOs) that were inspired by digging animals (e.g., the convex hull of a dung beetle pronotum and the back-ridge scales of a pangolin) were designed as biomimetic coupling elements. The resistance of BCDFOs, analyzed by the discrete element method, was less than that of the common flat disc furrow opener (CFDFO). The effects of different structures on soil disturbances in the forward and lateral directions were analyzed. The soil swelling rate and soil disturbance coefficient were calculated to evaluate the soil disturbance characteristics. Three less resistant BCDFOs were manufactured and tested in soil bins with different working conditions (furrow speed = 0.6, 1 and 1.4 m/s; soil moisture contents = 18% and 22%). It was found that the furrow resistance of the BCDFOs was obviously less than that of the CFDFO under the same test conditions, thus indicating that the BCDFO concept was an efficient bioinspired design for efficient agriculture tillage