Abstract: In order to verify the feasibility of data simulation， the tillage experiment was carried out and the stress in the advancing direction of plough was measured. Based on ANSYS， soil tillage process was simulated， and the overall distribution of stress within deformation zone was studied as well as the changes of tillage resistance. It was shown that the highest stress toward the heading direction occurred in the soil deformation zone of the maximum curvature of plough. During the tillage process， the tillage resistance increased first and then reduced slightly， and finally reached stable.

Key words: soil tillage, finite element simulation, soil stress, tillage resistance