Development of plough using finite element method

Agriculture and the use of ploughing tools have been very important for the civilization for thousands of years. However, many changes took place in the field of ploughing during the last 30 years. About 54% of Lithuania is covered by agricultural land, therefore development and production of agricultural equipment is very important. The research object of this paper is the block of plough manufactured in joint stock company “Gamega ir Ko” in Lithuania. Main failures of these products are of mechanical nature: fractures, cracks, sags and other deformations of structural parts. The most important factors for the users of ploughs are strength and endurance properties, reliability, easy maintenance and repair. Purpose of this work was to develop a solid model of the plough using finite element method with subsequent analysis of the ploughing process including stress calculations at different workloads, thereby allowing prediction of crack generation when the plough hits the hidden stone or other obstacle in the soil.