• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.897-907
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to develop a self-propelled underground crop harvester and its performance was evaluated by measuring the load during actual potato harvesting operations. This study was conducted at a constant working speed of 1 km·h^-1. A load measurement system was installed to measure the actual load and the required working power was analyzed. A hydraulic pressure sensor was also installed to measure the hydraulic pressure. The required hydraulic power was calculated using the hydraulic pressure and flow rate. The results showed that the engine speed, torque, and power during harvesting operation were in the range of 845 - 1,423 rpm, 95 - 228 Nm, and 9 - 31 kW, respectively. Traction power, excluding the hydraulic pump of the tractor and power take-off (PTO) output, was in the range of 9 - 28 kW, and it was confirmed that it occupies a ratio of 16.2 to 50% of the engine rated output. The engine can supply the minimum required traction power to move the vehicle. This means that the engine used in this study could be down-sized to be suitable for an underground crop harvester. In this study, the gear stages of the tractor were not considered. This research thus shows the possibility of developing a self-propelled underground crop harvester.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.450-459
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• 2009

The aim of this study was to measure the initial dynamic modulus changes of light cured composites using a custom made rheometer. The custom made rheometer consisted of 3 parts: (1) a measurement unit of parallel plates made of glass rods, (2) an oscillating shear strain generator with a DC motor and a crank mechanism, (3) a stress measurement device using an electromagnetic torque sensor. This instrument could measure a maximum torque of 2Ncm, and the switch of the light-curing unit was synchronized with the rheometer. Six commercial composite resins [Z-100 (Z1), Z-250 (Z2), Z-350 (Z3), DenFil (DF), Tetric Ceram (TC), and Clearfil AP-X (CF)] were investigated. A dynamic oscillating shear test was undertaken with the rheometer. A certain volume ($14.2\;mm^3$) of composite was loaded between the parallel plates, which were made of glass rods (3 mm in diameter). An oscillating shear strain with a frequency of 6 Hz and amplitude of 0.00579 rad was applied to the specimen and the resultant stress was measured. Data acquisition started simultaneously with light curing, and the changes in visco-elasticity of composites were recorded for 10 seconds. The measurements were repeated 5 times for each composite at $25{\pm}0.5^{\circ}C$. Complex shear modulus G*, storage shear modulus G', loss shear modulus G" were calculated from the measured strain-stress curves. Time to reach the complex modulus G* of 10 MPa was determined. The G* and time to reach the G* of 10 MPa of composites were analyzed with One-way ANOVA and Tukey's test ($\alpha$ = 0.05). The results were as follows. 1. The custom made rheometer in this study reliably measured the initial visco-elastic modulus changes of composites during 10 seconds of light curing. 2. In all composites, the development of complex shear modulus G* had a latent period for $1{\sim}2$ seconds immediately after the start of light curing, and then increased rapidly during 10 seconds. 3. In all composites, the storage shear modulus G" increased steeper than the loss shear modulus G" during 10 seconds of light curing. 4. The complex shear modulus of Z1 was the highest, followed by CF, Z2, Z3, TC and DF the lowest. 5. Z1 was the fastest and DF was the slowest in the time to reach the complex shear modulus of 10 MPa.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.79-88
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• 2011

The purpose of this study was to analyze power requirement of an agricultural tractor by major field operations. First a survey was conducted to obtain annual usage ratio of agricultural tractor by field operation. Plowing, rotary tillage, and loader operations were selected as major field operations of agricultural tractor. Second, a power measurement system was constructed with strain-gauge sensors to measure torque of four driving axles and a PTO axle, speed sensors to measure rotational speed of the driving axles and an engine shaft, pressure sensors to measure pressure of hydraulic pumps, an I/O interface to acquire the sensor signals, and an embedded system to calculate power requirement. Third, the major field operations were experimented under fields with different soil conditions following planned operation paths. Power requirement was analyzed during the total operation period consisted of actual operation period (plowing, rotary tillage, and loader operations) and period before and after the actual operation (3-point hitch operating, forward and reverse driving, braking, and steering). Power requirement of tractor major components such as driving axle part, PTO part, main hydraulic part, and auxiliary hydraulic part were measured and calculated to determine usage ratio of agricultural tractor power. Results of averaged power requirement for actual field operation and total operation were 23.1 and 17.5 kW, 24.6 and 19.1 kW, and 14.9 and 8.9 kW, respectively, for plowing, rotary tillage, and loader operations. The results showed that rotary tillage required the greatest power among the operations. Averaged power requirement of driving axles, PTO axle, main hydraulic part, and auxiliary part during the actual field operation were 8.1, 7.8, 3.4, and 1.5 kW, respectively, and the total requirement power was about 70 % (20.8 kW) of the rated power. Averaged power requirement of driving axles, PTO axle, main hydraulic, and auxiliary hydraulic for the total operation period were 6.5, 6.0, 2.1, 0.9 kW, respectively, and total requirement power was about 52 % (15.5 kW) of the rated power. Driving axles required the greatest amount of power among the components.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.217-226
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• 2010

The lower limb orthosis with a pneumatic rubber actuator, which is intended for the assistance and the enhancement of muscular activities of lower limbs was developed in this study. Compared to other knee extension assistive devices being developed by other researchers, our device is designed especially for the elderly people and intended only for slight assistance so that the subjects can keep their muscular strength. For the effectiveness of system, muscular activities of major muscles in lower limbs during sit-to-stand (STS) and squat motion were measured and analyzed. Subjects were performed the STS and squat motion with and without lower limb orthosis. We made comparison muscular activities between with and without lower limb orthosis. Lower limb orthosis was controlled using muscular stiffness force feedback that is controlled by muscular activities of the measured muscle from force sensor. For analysis of muscular activities, electromyography of the subjects was measured during STS and squat motion, and these were measured using MP 150(BIOPAC Systems, Inc.). Muscles of interest were rectus femoris(RF), vastus lateralis(VL), vastus medialis(VM) and vastus intermedius(VI) muscles in lower limbs of the right side. A biodex dynamometer was used to measure the maximal concentric isokinetic strength of the knee extensors of wearing and not wearing orthosis on right side. The test were performed using the concentric isokinetic mode of test with the velocity set at 60°/s for muscles around the knee joints. The experimental result showed that muscular activities in lower limbs wearing orthosis using muscular stiffness force of a vastus medialis muscle was reduced and knee extension torque of an knee joint wearing lower limb orthosis was increased. With this, we confirmed the effectiveness of the developed lower limb orthosis.

• Journal of Drive and Control
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.133-140
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• 2020

Traction performance of a tractor varies depending on soil conditions. Sinkage and slip of the driving wheel for tractor frequently occur in a reclaimed land. The objective of this study was to develop a tractor suitable for a reclaimed land. Traction performance was evaluated according to soil conditions of reclaimed land and paddy field. Field experiments were conducted at two test sites (Fields A: paddy field; and Field B: reclaimed land). The tractor load measurement system was composed of an axle rotation speed sensor, a torque meter, a six-component load cell, GPS, and a DAQ (Data Acquisition System). Soil properties including soil texture, water content, cone index, and electrical conductivity (EC) were measured. Referring to previous researches, the tractor traveling speed was set to B3 (7.05 km/h), which was frequently used in ridge plow tillage. Soil moisture contents were 33.2% and 48.6% in fields A and B, respectively. Cone index was 2.1 times higher in field A than in field B. When working in the reclaimed land, slip ratios were about 10.5% and 33.1% for fields A and B, respectively. The engine load was used almost 100% of all tractors under the two field conditions. Traction powers were 31.9 kW and 24.2 kW for fields A and B, respectively. Tractive efficiencies were 83.3% and 54.4% for fields A and B, respectively. As soil moisture increased by 16.4%, the tractive efficiency was lowered by about 28.9%. Traction performance of tractor was significantly different according to soil conditions of fields A and B. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the traction performance of tractor for smooth operations in all soil conditions including a reclaimed land by reflecting data of this study.