Browsing by Author "Kumi, Francis"

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    Development and evaluation of an abrasive wear test equipment
    (2011) Kumi, Francis
    The wear of ploughshares is a major source of economic constraints to local farmers. Most field wear tests have been found to be expensive and time-consuming. Abrasive wear test machines developed in advanced countries are not available in Ghana. The main objective of this study was to develop and evaluate an equipment for testing the abrasive wear of ploughshares. The equipment consists of a circular soil bin, support frame, power transmission system and arm-subassemblies. The equipment was evaluated using a cast-steel ploughshare in soils from KNUST (57.98, 68.9% sand), Wenchi (60.40, 66.26% sand), Ho (70.45, 72.81% sand), Mampong (61.66, 67.33% sand), Akuse (60.74, 64.70% sand) and Akatsi (81.70, 83.02% sand) in Ghana.. As a result of similarity in texture, the wear rate of soils from Akatsi and Ho showed increasing trend with corresponding moisture content while that of Akuse, Wenchi and Mampong showed a reverse trend. In sandy loam and loamy sand soils, wear increases with moisture content while sandy clay loams decrease with increasing moisture content. The study concludes that the wear rate of ploughshare is directly influenced by sand content and the soil type. The pH of the soils were acidic in nature and was not found to influence the wear.