Acta Agriculturae Zhejiangensis ›› 2023, Vol. 35 ›› Issue (1): 191-201.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1004-1524.2023.01.21

• Biosystems Engineering • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Numerical analysis of flow characteristics and structural optimization of bellows based on CFD-DEM

ZHANG Yifan(), HE Ruiyin(), DUAN Qingfei, XU Yong   

  1. College of Engineering, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210031, China
  • Received:2021-09-24 Online:2023-01-25 Published:2023-02-21

Abstract:

In order to explore the relationship between bellows structural parameters and conveying uniformity, the optimal parameter combination was obtained to improve the uniformity of pneumatic fertilizer discharge. Based on CFD-DEM coupling simulation technology, this paper constructed a quadratic response surface model with the variation coefficient of fertilizer discharge uniformity as the response value. On the basis of single factor test, BDD method was used to study the influence of the interaction between bellows width, bellows spacing and wavelength on fertilizer discharge uniformity, and the best parameter combination of bellows was obtained, Finally, the bench test was carried out to verify the simulation model and optimization results. The simulation results showed that the variation coefficient of fertilizer discharge uniformity firstly decreased and then increased with the increase of wavelength, width and ripple spacing. The order of significance of the influence of bellows structural parameters on fertilizer discharge uniformity was width>wavelength>ripple spacing. The optimal structural parameters of bellows were wavelength 18.103 mm, ripple spacing 12.158 mm and width 8.863 mm. At this time, the variation coefficient of fertilizer discharge uniformity was 7.5%. In the single factor bench test, the change trend of urea particle simulation predicted value was consistent with the actual value of the bench, and the values basically coincided. The average value of the relative error between the variation coefficient of corrugated pipe fertilizer discharge uniformity of the optimal parameter combination and the predicted value of the simulation test was 5.84%, which showed that the simulation model was accurate and reliable. The change trend of compound fertilizer particles was basically consistent with that of urea particles, which showed that the simulation model was universal. This study can provide a reference for the use and optimization of bellows.

Key words: corrugated pipe, response surface, simulation test, structural optimization, fertilizer uniformity

CLC Number: