| Summary: | The successful application of crop processing on pull-type forage harvesters requires engineering analysis and experimentation in areas such as roll design, particle aerodynamic, vibration, power measurement and crop physical characterization. The first step of this research project was to design, build and evaluate two processing rolls integrated in an experimental pull-type forage harvester. With a 12.7 mm theoretical length of cut setting, the processing rolls were used to treat alfalfa at a 1 mm clearance between the rolls. Samples analyzed at an animal research centre showed that processing increased the effective ruminal degradability of corn by 3% but did not improve the degradability of alfalfa. === The presence of processing rolls in the forage harvester increased friction. The air inlet area had to be increased to improve particle flow and obtain maximum air outlet speed. The presence of crop processing rolls required an increase in blower speed of 10 to 20% to maintain the throwing capacity. === Critical speeds were analyzed by the Transfer Matrix Component Mode Syntheses (TMCMS) method and three classical approaches using analytical models to predict deflections in the shaft. Experiments showed that the TMCMS method was very reliable and predicted the critical speed with an error of about 4% compared to 8% or higher for classical methods. Modal analysis also proved to be a simple and practical way to measure critical speed. === A laboratory setup was built to investigate various mechanical adjustments: roll clearances of 4 and 6 mm for corn, and 1 and 3 mm for grass; eight peripheral speed ratios between 1.08 and 1.93; two levels of throughput (9 and 18 t fresh crop/h). Optimal adjustment will ultimately depend on animal response to various levels of crop breakage. === A hydrodynamic model of chopped forage processed between rolls was developed to determine crop properties using an experimental database and subsequently predict the power requirement as a function of the configuration. Forage specific area was estimated using an experimental micro-screening method. A program was developed to calculate mechanical stresses within each roll of the crop processor as a function of working conditions and steel properties. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
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