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DEM Simulation for Seeding Performance of a Slotted Roller Seed-Metering Device for Planting Maize in Laboratory Condition

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Abstract

Purpose

The seed-metering device is an essential component of the precision seeding process since it ensures accurate metering and placement of the seeds. In this study, the performance of a new slotted roller seed-metering device, used in Balanian and Karparvarfard’s (Balanian and Karparvarfard, Iranian Journal of Biosystems Engineering 51:305–317, 2020) study, was simulated in EDEM software to predict the performance and mass flow rate of the optimized condition and compare the results with the experimental data.

Methods

To achieve this, EDEM simulation results were compared with those obtained from the laboratory tests and the limitations of the simulation were found and discussed. The number of slots (N), angle of the mouth, and rotational velocity (n) were used in Design Expert to develop an optimized model with a high desirability rating.

Results

The study suggests that the metering device position in simulations may have been over-predicted due to the use of divided time steps, potentially leading to higher miss index values. Additionally, the experiments showed that the variation in grain dimensions resulted in increased multiple index values. The predicted optimized model was similar to the model obtained from the experiments which confirm EDEM was successful in predicting the device’s performance and demonstrates the utility of simulation tools in predicting and optimizing the device’s design.

Conclusion

This approach can significantly reduce costs and save time in the development of an optimized slotted roller seed-metering device for maize planting.

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Data Availability

Data associated with this research is available upon request from the corresponding authors.

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Acknowledgements

The study authors express their gratitude to Shiraz University in Shiraz, Iran for providing technical support for the research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biosystems Engineering Department, College of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

    Melika Baghooee, Seyed Hossein Karparvarfard, Mahdi Keramat-Jahromi, Hossein Balanian & Farhang Sardarpour

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering of Biosystems, Faculty of Agriculture, Jahrom University, Jahrom, Iran

    Hadi Azimi-Nejadian

Authors
  1. Melika Baghooee
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  2. Seyed Hossein Karparvarfard
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  3. Hadi Azimi-Nejadian
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  4. Mahdi Keramat-Jahromi
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  5. Hossein Balanian
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  6. Farhang Sardarpour
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Melika Baghooee or Seyed Hossein Karparvarfard.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Baghooee, M., Karparvarfard, S.H., Azimi-Nejadian, H. et al. DEM Simulation for Seeding Performance of a Slotted Roller Seed-Metering Device for Planting Maize in Laboratory Condition. J. Biosyst. Eng. 48, 428–436 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42853-023-00202-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42853-023-00202-z

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