• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.30 no.2 s.109
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• pp.127-133
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• 2005

Precision tillage is designed to till lands variably according to their firmness. Therefore, it is necessary to measure soil firmness in fields and present it in a form with which the variable tillage on be performed. Such forms may be classified into two categories: sensor-based and map-based forms. The map-based approach appears to be inevitable until the technology develops high enough to secure the sensor-based approaches. The first step for map-based precision tillage may be to develop a tillage recommendation map. In this study, a tractor-mountable automatic soil firmness measurement system was developed to construct a cone index map. The system is comprised of three ASAE Standard cone penetrometers and a hydraulic unit for controlling operation of the penetrometers. The system is designed to conduct stop-and-go measurements in fields. The measurements from the three penetrometers are transferred to a microcomputer and the average cone index was calculated. This average cone index was taken as soil firmness of the location where the measurement was made. The cone indices thus determined were used to construct a cone index map using the ArcView software. The system also displays the soil penetration resistance, cone index and soil depth as the cone penetrates into the soil. The field performance of the system was evaluated and the cone index maps at different depths were also presented.

• Journal of Drive and Control
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.9-18
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of the soil cone index (CI) on the tractor work load. A load measurement system was constructed for measuring the field data. The field sites were divided into grids (3×3 m), and the cone index was measured at the center of each grid. The work load measured through the plow tillage was matched with the soil cone index. The matched data were grouped at 600 kPa intervals based on the cone index. The work load according to the cone index was analyzed for engine, axle, and traction load, respectively. The results showed that when the cone index increased, engine torque decreased by up to 9%, and the engine rotational speed and brake-specific fuel consumption increased by up to 5% and 3%, respectively. As the cone index increased, the traction and tillage depth were inversely proportional to the cone index, decreasing 7% and 18%, respectively and the traction and tillage depth were directly proportional to the cone index, increasing 13% and 12%, respectively. Thus, it was found that the cone index had a major influence on the engine, axle, and traction loads of the tractor.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.165-177
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• 2015

Purpose: Accurate monitoring of soil strength is a key technology applicable to various precision agricultural practices. Soil strength has been traditionally measured using a cone penetrometer, which is time-consuming and expensive, making it difficult to obtain the spatial data required for precision agriculture. To improve the current, inefficient method of measuring soil strength, our objective was to develop and evaluate an in-situ system that could measure horizontal soil strength in real-time, while moving across a soil bin. Methods: Multiple cone-shape penetrometers were horizontally assembled at the front of a vertical plow blade at intervals of 5 cm. Each penetrometer was directly connected to a load cell, which measured loads of 0-2.54 kN. In order to process the digital signals from every individual transducer concurrently, a microcontroller was embedded into the measurement system. Wireless data communication was used between a data storage device and this real-time horizontal soil strength (RHSS) measurement system travelling at 0.5 m/s through an indoor experimental soil bin. The horizontal soil strength index (HSSI) measured by the developed system was compared with the cone index (CI) measured by a traditional cone penetrometer. Results: The coefficient of determination between the CI and the HSSI at depths of 5 cm and 10 cm ($r^2=0.67$ and 0.88, respectively) were relatively less than those measured below 20 cm ($r^2{\geq}0.93$). Additionally, the measured HSSIs were typically greater than the CIs for a given numbers of compactor operations. For an all-depth regression, the coefficient of determination was 0.94, with a RMSE of 0.23. Conclusions: A HSSI measurement system was evaluated in comparison with the conventional soil strength measurement system, CI. Further study is needed, in the form of field tests, on this real-time measurement and control system, which would be applied to precision agriculture.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.387-392
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• 2010

This study was performed to design and to construct a digital soil cone index(CI) measuring device replacing conventional analog type devices. The device developed in the study consisted of a load cell, a rotary encoder and a motor with a decelerator as its main parts. The cone speed was controlled lower than 3.0 m/s which keeps the standard suggested by the ASABE S313.3 specification. The experiment was conducted in a soil bin system as well as in various fields. The CI data measured by the developed device were compared with those by an existing measurement device(SC900, Spectrum, USA). Based on the experiments at various field conditions, the CI measuring characteristic of the device was quite similar to that of the conventional device within a acceptable $R^2$ range of more than 0.5(mean=0.76). It was concluded that the digital cone index measuring device was an effective and comprehensive sensor for measuring soil strength.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.304-312
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• 2016

Purpose: Soil strength has been measured using a cone penetrometer, which is making it difficult to obtain the spatial data required for precision agriculture. Our objectives were to evaluate real-time horizontal soil strength (RHSS) to measure soil strength in real time while moving across the field. Using the RHSS data, the tillage depth was determined, and the power consumption of a tractor and rotavators were compared. Methods: The horizontal soil-strength index (HSSI) obtained by the RHSS was compared with the cone index (CI), which was measured using a cone penetrometer. Comparison analysis in accordance with the measurement depth that increased at 5-cm interval was conducted using kriged maps at six sensing depths. For tillage control and evaluation of the power consumption, the system was installed with a potentiometer for tillage depth, a torque sensor from the rear axle, and a power take-off (PTO) shaft. Results: The HSSI was lower than the CI, but they were the same at 54.81% of the total grids for the 5-cm depth and at 3.85% for the 10-cm depth. In accordance with the recommended tillage map, tillage operations between 0 and 15 cm left 2.3% and 7% residue cover on the soil, and that between 20 and 10 cm covered a wider utilization of 3% and 18.4%, respectively. When the tillage depth was 15 cm, the comparison result of the power requirements between the PTO and rear axle in terms of control performance revealed that the maximum power requirements of the axle and PTO were 44.63 and 23.24 kW, respectively. Conclusions: An HSSI measurement system was evaluated by comparison with the conventional soil strength measurement system (CI) and applied to a tractor to compare the tillage power consumption. Further study is needed on its application to various farm works using a tractor for precision agriculture.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.207-214
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• 2007

Based on the profiles of cone index with depth, physical properties of hardpan in selected rice fields were measured and analyzed in the study. An error correction algorithm removing a random measurement error from raw CI profile data was introduced in the study. The properties of hardpan included the shape, the thickness and the rice root growing layer. The analysis of physical properties of hardpan in the rice fields showed that the type of hardpan could be classified into 6 categories. The thickness of hardpan ranged from 6 cm up to 41 cm and the average hardness of hardpan was analyzed to be from 1.1 MPa through 3.2 MPa in Cone index.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.31 no.11
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• pp.25-31
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• 2015

Elastic behavior of the railway roadbed which supports the repeating dynamic loads of the train is mainly affected by the shear modulus of the upper roadbed. Therefore, shear wave velocity estimation of the uniformly compacted roadbed can be used to estimate the elastic behavior of the railway roadbed. The objective of this study is to suggest the relationship between the dynamic cone penetration index (DCPI) and the shear wave velocity ($V_s$) of the upper roadbed in order to estimate the shear wave velocity by using the dynamic cone penetration test (DCPT). To ensure the reliability of the relationship, the dynamic cone penetration test and the measurement of the shear wave velocity are conducted on the constructed upper roadbed. As a method for measurement of the shear wave velocity, cross hole is used and then the dynamic cone penetration test is performed at a center point between the source and the receiver of the cross hole. As a result of the correlation of the dynamic cone penetration index and the shear wave velocity at the same depths, the shear wave velocity is estimated as a form of involution of the dynamic cone penetration index with a determinant coefficient above 0.8. The result of this study can be used to estimate both the shear wave velocity and the strength of the railway roadbed using the dynamic cone penetrometer.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.120-125
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• 2010

Wood-Plastic Composites (WPCs) are one of spotlighting materials for the residential construction and the industry for furniture. At this study, the limiting oxygen index (LOI) was measured by ASTM D 2863 and the cone calorimeter test was done by ISO 5660-1 to find the combustion characteristics of WPCs. In addition, the identical test was implemented to compare the combustion characteristics between the red pine and the antiseptic wood. The result of LOI measurement showed that the LOI of WPCs was lower than that of red pine or antiseptic wood. The cone calorimeter test showed that the heat release rate (HRR) of WPCs was the highest and the Peak HRR as well as the average HRR and total heat release of WPCs was higher than those of red pine or antiseptized wood

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.927-935
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• 2011

In-situ California Bearing Ratio(CBR) test has been widely used for evaluating the subgrade condition in pavements. However, because the in-situ CBR test is expensive and takes time for operation, it is difficult to figure out the in-situ characteristics of subgrade strength in detail. For faster and economical operation, the Dynamic Cone Penetrometer(DCP) has been often utilized for estimating the subgrade strength in the field. The purpose of this paper is to determine the relationship between CBR value and DCP index of the embankment constructed with mixtures of soil and waste lime. Waste lime used in this study is producted as a by-product in the manufacturing process of making $Na_2CO_3$ from local chemical factory in Incheon. In this field measurement, the geotechnical tests such as field water content, field density, field CBR test, and dynamic cone penetration test were conducted.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.79-84
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• 2012

Combustion characteristics of outdoor advertisement materials were evaluated for fire risk assessment about fire expanding. At this study, the flame retardancy and the limiting oxygen index (LOI) was measured by UL 94 and ASTM D 2863 respectively. At the result of flame retardancy, foamex was V-0 grade and those of others were out of grade. LOI measurement showed that the LOI of foamex was highest in the samples. The cone calorimeter test was done by ISO 5660-1 to find the combustion characteristics. The cone calorimeter test showed that the outdoor advertisement materials were not good to prevent of fire expanding. The time to ignition (TTI) of flex was the fastest and the peak heat release rate (PHRR) as well as the total heat release (THR) of acrylic panel was higher than those of others.