Fatigue Life Prediction of Crank-type Rotavator

Purpose: This study was performed to predict the fatigue life of a crank-type rotavator operated in domestic soil conditions using Recurdyn$^{(R)}$, a dynamic analysis program. Methods: Torque on the PTO shaft was measured using experiments conducted on the uplands and paddy fields in Korea. On the basis of the experimental and analytical results, the fatigue life of the crank-type rotavator was predicted by constructing an S-N curve according to the GL (Germanischer Lloyd Wind Energie GmbH) guideline. Results: The torques experienced by the PTO shaft in the paddy soil and the uplands were in the range of 472~797 N m and 313~430 N m, respectively, for every condition. In case of load condition, the peak torques (846 N m, 770 N m) were applied for severe conditions, resulting in a maximum (von Mises) stress of 75 MPa at the crank arm. The fatigue life of the crank-type rotavator was predicted to be 1,167 h that satisfies the target value of 1,110 h, by substituting the analysis results into an S-N curve of crank arm. Conclusions: The fatigue life of the crank-type rotavator was within the target life for the studied soil conditions; however, further field experiments for various soil conditions would be required to verify the prediction results.