Research on the rotary shearing machine

The effectiveness of sheep shearing largely depends on the performance of shearers. Due to the mechanical energy of the machine, only the cutting of wool fibers occurs, and its movement on the surface of the animal's body is carried out by a person - a shearer. Highly skilled shearers use about 90% of its width when shearing fine fleeces with a wide-comb (b=76.8 mm), low and medium shearers use 50-75%. The most professional shearers usually work with narrow-grip combs (b=57.6 mm), because a narrow-grip comb has less resistance to the shearer's hand during shearing and allows the shearer to move the machine at a higher speed than a wide-grip comb. Thus, the performance of the shearer depends on the following factors: traction force - P, movement speed - V, operating time (duration of the work process) - t. Theoretical calculations have shown that at the maximum effort of the shearer, the optimal feed speed is 0.93 m/s, and the load on the shearer's arm should not exceed 30.6 N. An increase in the load on the shearer's arm of more than 30.6 N causes a decrease in the feed speed, and, accordingly, a decrease in productivity. In the world practice of shearing sheep, there are two most successful technical solutions: a reciprocating shearer and a rotary shearer. The analysis of each of the options showed that the reciprocating shearer, if the technological parameters are not met, dramatically reduces the quality of work (increases the chaff content) and increases power consumption. Chaff and overcuts are undesirable in the shearing process, and their total content in the fleece should not exceed 1%. While the latter depends on the qualifications of the shearer, the former mainly depends on the combination of geometric, design and technological parameters of the cutting apparatus and shearing machine. Cutting wool with a rotational movement of the knife means that when it passes over the already sheared surface, it only combs the wool, which means that the material does not meet the conditions for pinching. The rotational movement of the knife eliminates the repeated cutting of the wool (formation of chips) and reduces the energy intensity of the process by 20%. We have developed a test bench that can determine the force of resistance to the movement of the shearing machine in the wool layer and the power consumption of the machine movement, which is consumed during shearing, by changing the speed of the shearing machine. Comparing the MSU-200 and the rotary shearing machine, it can be noted that the power consumption of the developed machine, compared to the basic one, decreased by 2.2-2.3 times. The force of resistance to movement decreased by 1.2-1.4 times, and the amount of shearing decreased by 3.2-3.5 times.