Mechanical performance of soil monolith collectors of adjustable dimensions / Desempenho mecânico de um coletor de monolitos de solo de dimensões ajustáveis

• Autor(a) principal: Venzon, Marcio
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Silva, Tonny José Araújo da, Bonfim-Silva, Edna Maria, Bassini, Renato Tillmann, Fenner, William
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista Veras
• Texto Completo: https://ojs.brazilianjournals.com.br/ojs/index.php/BRJD/article/view/15018
• topic: Agricultural machine; Soil sampler; Undeformed sample.

Scientists across the globe face a large challenge during representative soil sample collection when having to carefully retain the physical-chemical structure of the soil. The goal was to validate the performance of a mechanical collector of soil monoliths of adjustable formats and to establish suitable mechanical indicators of the operational equipment. The collector's operating ability, efficiency, and precision were confirmed in terms of the aspects listed: definition of the optimal rotation of work; maintenance of a uniform diameter and height of the monoliths in cylindrical and conical formats; collection efficiency under unfavorable conditions (roots and gravel presence); specification of the ideal soil moisture levels for collection from the various types of soil classes; collection from terrain characterized by uneven topography and evaluation of the wearing out of cutting tool edges (drill). The data were analyzed using the coefficient of variation and a confidence interval test (p < 0.05). The monolith collector was very efficient, showing a high degree of precision during the sample collection, cutting the samples between 0.15 and 0.80 m in diameter for the cylindrical shaped particles and between 0.17 and 0.50 m for the conical ones. However, soil moisture levels exceeding 18 % limited the equipment’s performance on clayey soils.