Investigation of the Effect of Soil Moisture Content, Contact Surface Material and Soil Texture on Soil Friction and Soil Adhesion Coefficients

Soil friction and soil adhesion increase the implement draft force and energy consumption particularly in the tools that have larger contact area with soil. The main ways of lowering the total draft force of the tillage tools include the use of proper materials in tools structures as well as application of the tools in appropriate soil moisture content condition. This paper investigates the effects of soil moisture content, contact surface material and soil texture on soil friction and soil adhesion coefficients. To measure the coefficients of soil friction and soil adhesion, a measurement system was developed at the University of Mohaghegh Ardabili. Experiments for each soil texture were performed at five levels of soil moisture content and four contact materials of steel, cast iron, rubber, and teflon with three replications. Results have shown that in all soil types, the effects of soil moisture content and contact materials had a significant effect on the coefficient of both soil friction and soil adhesion at the probability level of 1%. The coefficient of friction increased with soil moisture content increment and reached its maximum and then had a drop in the fluid phase. Results have shown that the mean values of soil friction and soil adhesion coefficients were significantly different from the studied soils.