Results of quality assessment of cultivators arms

The technologies of cultivation of most agricultural crops involve the operation of continuous cultivation of the soil. Here, special requirements are imposed on working bodies - cultivator arms that perform weed cutting, crumbling, grinding of the cultivated soil under conditions of intense friction, deformation and shock loads. In most cases, these are pointed cultivator arms, the wear resistance and durability of which depend on the structural materials used, the presence of heat treatment and strengthening effects in the cutting-edge zone. The increased attention of scientists and designers to the durability of the working bodies of cultivators has been noted since the appearance of the machines themselves. After all, it is the working bodies that determine the quality of the field work performed, which affects the future yield of cultivated crops. The main technical characteristics of cultivator arms are regulated by the current industry standard OST 23.2.164-87 «Arms and stands of cultivators. General technical conditions». In addition, to date, the efforts of many scientists have developed methods to increase the wear resistance and durability of cultivator arms, by applying various strengthening coatings to the metal of the arm base. However, despite the existence of a standard and technical conditions for manufacturing, as well as many new proven methods of strengthening impact, the cultivator arms available on the market are massively subjected to harsh criticism from consumers. The working bodies produced by various factories have a critically low resource, they are forced to wear out, bend and deform. This is caused by a violation of the manufacturing technology of products, as well as the lack of an independent quality control system before sending them to the consumer. This article examines a number of parameters of serial lancet cultivator arms established by the industry standard. Chemical compositions and grades of lap steels were determined, microstructural analysis of alloys with microhardness measurement was performed. A conclusion is made regarding the wear resistance of the studied samples of cultivator arms. Recommendations on the formation of a quality management system for the working bodies of tillage machines are given.