Abstract
The aim of the study is to develop a mathematical model of a separation device for an automated machine designed to clean potato tubers from soil, with the goal of preventing the removal of the fertile soil layer from the field and the possible further spread of potato plant diseases through contaminated soil. The process of interaction between the rod of the separating conveyor and the soil lump is considered. Graphs of the change in kinetic energy for soil lumps of different masses, depending on the rotation frequency of the slatted conveyor drive, are constructed. During the modeling process in the Mathcad environment, the mass of lumps was determined with a variation from 0.2 to 0.8 kg; the unloading height of the tuber nest was 0.3 m; the mass of the slatted conveyor was 23 kg; the radius of the drive shaft was 0.1 m; the angle of inclination of the conveyor relative to the horizon was 0.3491 rad. A graphical dependence of the change in kinetic energy loss on the rotation frequency of the slatted conveyor drive for lumps of different masses was determined. It was found that with an increase in the rotation frequency of the slatted conveyor drive, an increase in kinetic energy loss as a result of impact action is observed, while with an increase in the mass of the soil lump, a linear increase in this indicator is observed. The loss of kinetic energy as a result of the impact interaction of the rod of the separating conveyor and the soil lump will be equal to the work spent on the destruction of the soil lump as a result of falling onto the surface of the slat conveyor. It was determined that the mass entering the slat conveyor includes tops, potato tubers and soil. In turn, the quality of separation of the incoming mass will be determined by the distance between the rods and soil particles of a certain size. The results of the conducted modeling established that an increase in the efficiency of the cleaning process is observed when varying the frequency of oscillations of the web in the range of 45–60 Hz and a constant amplitude value of 0.03 m.