Research on herbaceous plants compaction in container stores using vibrating compactors

Abstract

Direct-action and indirect-action vibrators for compaction of silage in container stores were built for experimental trials. Experimental results indicated that during vibrating compaction the grass layer was compacted intensely for 5-10 min. Therefore, vibrators of this type are suggested for compacting grass layers with thicknesses of 0.5-0.6 m. The determination of comparative pressure as a function of vibration frequency showed that the most effective frequency was 43.96 Hz during the direct-action vibrator compaction of grass. This relationship was determined experimentally by measuring the pressure caused by the vibrator and the effective power while compacting the grass mass in a container. The pressure increase coefficient varied over a wide range of 1.5-6.8. It was established that a centrifugal indirect-action vibrator works well to compact chopped maize (a bulk density of up to 730 kg m-3 was achieved) and works to some extent for mixtures of Caucasian goat’s rue (Galegaorientalis Lam.) and red clover (Trifoliumpratense L.). This vibrator is not suitable for compacting either pure red clover or pure Caucasian goat’s rue because the compacted densities were only 260-350 and 225-280 kg/m3, respectively. Similar studies were performed using a direct-action vibrator, and similar fodder compaction results were obtained. These vibratory silage compaction methods can be recommended for small farms. Vibrating devices are useful on herbaceous plants with large stems (e.g., maize) and are somewhat useful for mixtures including such herbaceous plants when compacting in stores.