Design and Performance Analysis of a Seed Metering Device for a Buckwheat Seeder Adopting Discrete Element Analysis

An external groove wheel type of buckwheat seed metering device is designed for the buckwheat seeder. We establish a discrete element analysis model of the seed metering device and buckwheat seed using physical and mechanical parameters of buckwheat seeds experimentally measured and calculated. The effects of the rotational speed, groove radius and groove number on the seed metering rate are analyzed in an L4 (23) mixed orthogonal test and supplementary test. The simulation results show that the seed metering device performs best when the groove radius is 3 mm, there are 20 grooves, and the rotational speed is 55.67 r/min. The single-factor test results of the rotational speed of the buckwheat metering device show that the relationship between the metering rate and rotational speed is approximately linear. The metering rate of the metering device reaches a target value of 3.79 g/s at a rotational speed of 47.85 r/min.