Current Journal of Applied Science and Technology

Agricultural subsoilers are used to break the hardpans below the level of the tillage depth.  Weight reduction without compromising safety is one of the primary design objectives of the subsoiler. The thickness, length of curve, and width of shank are all critical parameters in designing a straight subsoiler. Identifying the significance of geometrical parameters maximizes structural safety and minimizes weight. An analysis of the parametric correlation between the output and input parameters of a straight subsoiler is presented in this paper. Parameter correlation was conducted to detect the degree to which the output parameters are influenced by the input parameters and the sensitivity of the input parameters to the output parameters. Analysis was performed using the Parameter Correlation tool of ANSYS Workbench. Results indicated that the thickness of the shank and width of the shank influenced the output parameters significantly, whereas the length of the curve of the inclined subsoiler had no significant influence on the output parameters. The thickness of shank has the highest relevance with the straight subsoiler mass having a correlation value of 0.78919 and R2 contribution of 0.60063. The width of shank has the highest relevance with total deformation with a correlation value of -0.77197 and an R2 contribution of 0.59353. Increasing thickness and width of shank of the subsoiler leads to an increasing trend in the subsoiler mass, safety factor, and volume. Increasing thickness and width of shank lead to decreasing trends in total deformation, equivalent stress, and maximum principal stress. Changes in length of curve of the straight subsoiler did not lead to any trend in the output parameters. Thus, thickness and width of shank were designated as the major input parameters while length of curve was designated as the minor input parameter.