Modelling the mechanical behaviour of plants and soil-plant interactions with MSM and coupled DEM-MSM methods

Abstract To improve agricultural productivity, precision agriculture requires a deeper understanding of plant and soil mechanical behaviour. This study applies a mass-spring method (MSM), introduces a tear model, and couples MSM with the discrete element method (DEM) to simulate plant deformation, tearing, and soil–plant interactions. A mustard plant geometry was digitalised, and its stem underwent a uniaxial tension test, which was then simulated with the MSM and tear model. After parameter calibration the measured macromechanical behaviour could be reproduced under 1% relative error with four iteration steps and the adjustment of the micromechanical parameters, however, the macromechanical behaviour was found to be dependent on the geometry and discretisation of the geometry too. Additional bending simulations were conducted, and the root-pulling process was modelled using the coupled DEM-MSM approach. The bending and root-pulling simulations also showed consistent behaviour, indicating that the proposed methods effectively model plant mechanics and soil–plant interactions.