Design and Experimentation of the Millet Combine Harvester Header

• Published in: Machines (Basel) Vol. 12; no. 9; p. 636
• Main Authors: Qiu, Shujin, Li, Kai, Hu, Yifan, Pan, Ben, Wang, Zeze, Yuan, Xiangyang, Cui, Qingliang, Tang, Zhong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-09-2024
• Subjects: Combine harvesters; Contact angle; Crop losses; Crops; Design; divider; Dividers; Friction; Grain; Harvest; Harvesting; harvesting speed; header height; header loss rate; Height; Mechanical properties; Millet; millet harvester; Performance tests; Tribology; Velocity; Vibration analysis; China
• ISSN: 2075-1702; 2075-1702
• DOI: 10.3390/machines12090636

To address the issue of header loss in millet combine harvesters, a double-chain millet harvester header was designed based on the principles of contact mechanics and tribology. Key component parameters of the header were determined, with the divider length and width measuring 0.56 m and 0.30 m, respectively. The divider angle was 40°, and the spiral angle was also 40°. A prototype was manufactured, and field performance tests were conducted. The results showed that the total header loss rate of the double-chain header was lower than that of the single-chain header under various combinations of header height and harvesting speed. The lowest total header loss rate, 3.12%, occurred when the header height was 0.2 m and the harvesting speed was 1.667 m/s, with a grain loss rate of 0.55% and a spike loss rate of 2.57%. This research provides a theoretical foundation for the development of low-loss, high-efficiency millet combine harvesters.