Search

Tillage tools are the main soil engaging implements facing high abrasive wear. This paper provided an overview of the research findings published in the area of wear and coating of tillage tools. Many researchers across the world have studied on the wear behavior, coating materials and methods of the tillage implements. In the previous studies coating methods and materials were used to resist the tillage tools against the wear phenomena. The effect of soil type on the wear of parts of impalements is investigated and reported in various research works. Draft force of the coated of the parts of tillage implements have also been measured and compared against the uncoated ones and presented in various publications. Many other scientists have considered and worked on the modelling of the wear of tillage tools. Several parameters such as tool geometry, soil properties including moisture content and soil texture and performance parameters of tillage tools such as forward speed and depth have been noticed in the wear modelling. The reviewed studies indicated that the wear rate of tillage implements increases with the increase of the size of sand particles in the soil. The previous investigations showed the less consumption of draft force by the coated tillage tools. This review helps those who are interested in work on the wear behavior aspects of the soil engaging implements and the coating of soil tillage tools., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 The Author. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Background: Tractors emit high intensity noise and prolonged exposure to high intensity noise causes hearing loss to the drivers., Objective: The aim of this study was to measure noise intensity at the tractor drivers' ear level and hearing loss among tractor drivers., Methods: Noise intensity was measured on 6 models of tractors which were operated with 5 different tillage implements. In order to assess hearing loss, audiometric test was performed at 7 frequencies, i.e. 250, 500, 1000, 2000, 4000, 6000, and 8000 Hz, among 30 tractor drivers and 30 control group subjects. All the selected tractor drivers and control group subjects were also interviewed to obtain personal information and noise exposure details., Results: The tractor drivers were exposed to noise intensity in the range of 91.7-97.5 dB(A). Audiogram analysis shows that the hearing threshold levels were significantly (p < 0.05) higher among the tractor drivers as compared with the control group subjects. The effect was significantly (p < 0.05) more on the left ear as compared with the right ear among the tractor drivers. Increase in age has significant (p < 0.05) effect on the hearing threshold levels on the left ear. Prevalence of high frequency hearing loss was 50% among tractor drivers as compared with 10% among control group subjects. Hearing loss was significantly (p < 0.05) more in the low frequency as compared with the high frequency among the tractor drivers., Conclusion: Indian tractor operators are exposed to high noise levels which may result in hearing loss. It is recommended that hearing conservation programs should be initiated to prevent noise hazards and hearing loss among the tractor drivers.