Improving the efficiency of grinding sugar beet in centrifugal beet cutters

Introduction. Grinding sugar beet should be carried out with minimal losses in centrifugal beet cutters with specially designed knives that provide frequent and constant chaotic longitudinal-lateral cutting of circular conductive beet knots. The objective of the work is to increase the reliability of the knives of centrifugal beet cutters by structural and technological strengthening in the process of their production and restoration. Materials and Methods. The state of the cutting edges of the knives was determined by using the micrometric measurement of the wear and deformation of the edges. Physical and mechanical indicators were analyzed based on the values of wear resistance, microhardness, and bending endurance. Results. The analyzes of the defective state of the knives of centrifugal beet cutters and theoretical studies of the grinding process have allowed formulating the factors affecting the permeability of the beet chips and the efficiency of their grinding with knives of a special diamond-shaped design. Experimental studies have made it possible to establish dynamically substantiated design parameters of an improved knurled knife. Discussion and Conclusion. The proposed measures ensured an increase in the durability of knives by 27-30%, the relative wear resistance of cutting edges by 20%, the limit of endurance of cutting edges for bending by 25% and a shift increase in the length of chips by 18-20% with an increase in its permeability by 16-18%.