Even if they can simply coat the
moldboard and leave the leading edge alone, a lot of the friction goes
away. However, we are likely looking at
the leading edge been made from a particularly resistant metal that holds the
diamond like coating. Most likely be are
dealing with graphene in some form, or if we are not we soon will be.
Graphene embedded in a tough metal
would also do wonderfully.
In the event, the good stuff
needs only weigh ounces while the structure itself can even be steel.
What is coming is a new
generation of earth cutting tools that will be vastly superior and also produce
those fuel savings.
We are a long way from working
with material repaired by a trip to the forge.
Diamond-like carbon-coated plows to save fuel by sliding through the
soil
By Darren
Quick
18:11 July 26, 2011
Plows are one of the most basic agricultural implements and have been
in use for thousands of years. In that time they've evolved from simple
ox-drawn scratch plows consisting of a frame holding a vertical wooden stick
dragged through the topsoil - which are still used in many parts of the world -
to tractor-mounted plows that can have as many as 18 moldboards. The evolution
of the humble plow looks set to continue with Fraunhofer scientists working on
diamond-like carbon (DLC)-coated plowshares that would slide through the soil
like a hot knife through butter, thereby requiring less fuel.
According to the Fraunhofer scientists, there's more than a fraction
too much friction when it comes to plowing fields. They claim that around 50
percent of the energy used when plowing or harrowing is lost as a result of
friction between the plowshare and the soil. With farmers in Germany alone
going through nearly a billion liters of fuel every year to work their land,
that adds up to a lot of wasted fuel and money.
In an effort to create plowshares that create less friction and
therefore require less power and less fuel to drag through the soil, scientists
at Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM in Freiburg and their
partners in the RemBob project are working on DLC-coated plowshares. They say
they have already been able to reduce the friction by half, with the power
required by the tractor pulling them reduced by as much as 30 percent in some
tests.
Fuel savings aren't the only benefits for smoothly cutting plowshares
either. Since not as much power is required to drag them through the soil
farers can use smaller tractors or the same sized tractors could be run in
partial load with longer repair and maintenance intervals. Smaller, lighter
tractors would also mean a reduction in soil compaction that would result in
better quality soil that is easier to work and absorbs water better.
Additionally, DLC coatings would provide protection against corrosion
and wear. The high-durability steels currently used for plowshares suffer
visibly if used for a prolonged length of time.
"A tine on a circular harrow can lose 50 per cent of its mass
through wear every season," says physicist and trained fruit farmer Martin
Hörner from Fraunhofer IWM.
But with soil, sand and stones wearing down conventional coatings in a
very short period of time, plowshares have not been coated up to now. And
although DLC coatings are able to withstand the extreme stresses and strains of
plowing, the coating would chip and splinter because the underlying steel
deforms more easily making it an unsuitable substrate for the more rigid DLC
coatings.
For this reason, the Fraunhofer researchers and their project partners are
field testing plowshares made of different materials, including nitriding
steel, glass-fiber-reinforced plastic and tungsten carbide. The next goal of
the project is to plow at least 20 km (12.4 miles) of ground before the coating
fails.
"If we achieve that, the wear-free plowshare will be within
touching distance," says Hörner.
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