Development of a soil bin test facility for soil dynamics studies

A soil bin test facility was developed at the University of Manitoba for indoor soil dynamics studies, specifically on soil-machine interaction research in agriculture. The soil bin permitted soil-machine interaction research being studied continuously without weather interruption and allowed researchers to control soil conditions. The soil bin featured fixed soil containers and a moving carriage. The soil containers were designed to enable quick soil preparation and testing different soil types in one test run. An 11.19 kW electric motor was fixed to a position at one end of the soil bin. The moving carriage was towed by the electric motor via a chain and sprocket system and traveled at a design maximum speed of 2.78 m/s. Conceptual designs of a 3-directional dynamometer for measuring soil-tool interaction forces and a single wheel tester for measuring breaking torque of soil-wheel interaction were also studied and presented.