Eduardo Favret
National Institute for Agricultural Technology, Argentina.
National Council on Scientific and Technical Research, Argentina
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Material Sci Eng
Recently, biomimetics has opened a fruitful field of investigation for engineering solutions. It is known that the phenomenon of adherence of soil to solid surfaces of the components of agricultural machinery increases the required drawing force as well as energy consumption of machinery, decreasing the quality of work. To overcome the adhesion of soil to solid surfaces of the components of agricultural machinery, scientists propose to apply biomimetic principles and characteristics of soil fauna for designing such surfaces. The animals that inhabit the soil move without the soil sticking to them, because of their geometric shapes, hydrophobicity, micro-electro-osmotic systems, lubrication and flexibility of the cuticle surface. The physicochemical, mechanical and geometric features of those species can be used for the design of materials and structures of agricultural tools. The present research work addresses this problem by modifying the surface topography of the body involved in an agricultural tool based on the micro-topography of the cuticle of the Diloboderus abderus beetle (female), as well as discussing new topographic patterns based on the self-cleaning cuticle of springtails (Collembola). The macro and micro surface topography proposed for the tool is effective to decrease the adherence of soil to the surface of the agricultural tools with a noticeable and significant reduction in the traction force and an increased capacity of penetration of the tool, due to replacement of soil-soil friction with soil-metal friction. This has a deep ecological and economic impact resulting from saving fuel and labor time.
Email: favret.eduardo@inta.gob.ar
Journal of Material Sciences & Engineering received 3677 citations as per Google Scholar report
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