Simulation-based study of the influence of particle physical properties on fertilizer spreading ability
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Despite spreader performance, different fertilizers are known to have inherent limitations that prevent them from achieving the same working width at a targeted spreading quality. Nevertheless, there is currently no mathematical relationship to express the maximum working width achievable by a fertilizer as a function of its physical properties. The aim of this paper is to develop a numerical method to provide such a mathematical relationship. Since the maximum working width W WCV10 ensuring a satisfying uniformity (CV≤10%) is a complex parameter (resulting from different stages of the spreading process), the issue has been decomposed into two steps. First, a dataset is computed by numerical simulations. 3800 virtual fertilizers are designed and feed into numerical simulations based on a Monte Carlo process. For each fertilizer, twin disk spread patterns are computed for a set of virtual spreader settings. Then, W WCV10 is deduced from simulations of adjacent passes and overlaps. The mean radius R m of the spread pattern is also computed. Second, based on this consistent dataset, multivariate polynomial regressions are established to express W WCV10 and R m as mathematical functions of 5 independent physical characteristics of the fertilizer: the drag coefficient, the specific density and three particle size distribution parameters. Thus, for the first time, the contribution of each variable (to the ability of the fertilizer to achieve a working width) is quantified and the sensitivity of W WCV10 and R m is analyzed by using partial derivatives. The correlation between W WCV10 and R m is also demonstrated.
Language: English
Subfield: Mechanical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,680
OpenAlex ID: W4405315634