Investigation on the design and optimization of a high-speed precision maize metering device with a layered centrifugal mechanical structure

To meet the requirements of high-speed precision maize seeding, a novel centrifugal mechanical high-speed precision metering device was developed. The device performs seed filling and seed clearing by utilizing the seed pile stratification and the centrifugal force generated during high-speed operation, fundamentally changing the traditional method of seed pile filling to a layered and discrete seed pile arrangement. To identify the optimal performance parameters, an orthogonal rotational combination test was conducted with the rotating speed of the seed metering disc, number of apertures, and aperture diameters as test factors, with quality of feed index, miss index, and multiples index as evaluation indicators, and the relationships between the various factors and evaluation indicators were established. Response surface methodology was used to optimize the results, which were further verified through bench testing. The results indicated that increasing the rotating speed of the metering disc had no significant impact on the quality of feed index, demonstrating the system’s suitability for high-speed operation. Under a plant spacing of 180 mm, with a rotating speed of 1729.01 rad/min (approximately 12 km/h), five apertures, and an aperture diameter of 14 mm, the quality of feed index reached 92.07%. Bench testing confirmed the reliability of the optimization results.