Fatigue and Stiffness Analysis of Rotating Drum Composter

Authors: Remigijus Janulionis, Marijus Šeporaitis, Aleksandra Legha, Raimundas Ručys

Abstract:

All types of farms have a waste problem. Livestock farms have huge amounts of manure and vegetable farms have to deal with inedible parts of vegetables or rotten, damaged and unacceptable vegetable waste. All of this waste needs to be disposed of safely, ecologically, and as quickly as possible. One of the options is composting using bioreactors, which are rotating drum composters. This type of composting allows biodegradable waste to be disposed of quickly and in an environmentally friendly manner, turning it into a useful product such as soil fertilizer or livestock bedding. This paper presents the fatigue and stiffness analysis of a rotating drum composter. The analysis was performed using a 3D finite element model. It was found that the analyzed composter design has good mechanical strength, good fatigue strength for a cylinder, and acceptable fatigue strength for tire rings. The deformation analysis of the cylinder indicated that the front and rear door support mechanisms should allow the positioning angle to be changed to ensure tightness.

Keywords: 3D modeling, fatigue, Finite Element Method, Goodman’s diagram.

References:

[1] J. Köninger, E. Lugato, P. Panagos, M. Kochupillai, A. Orgiazzi, M. J.I. Briones, “Manure management and soil biodiversity: Towards more sustainable food systems in the EU”, Agricultural Systems, vol. 194, 103251, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2021.103251
[2] L. R. Cooperband, “Composting: Art and Science of Organic Waste Conversion to a Valuable Soil Resource”, Laboratory Medicine, vol. 31, is. 5, pp. 283–290, May 2000. https://doi.org/10.1309/W286-LQF1-R2M2-1WNT
[3] S. Fournel, S. Godbout, P. Ruel, A. Fortin, M. Généreux, C. Côté, C. Landry, D. Pellerin, “Production of recycled manure solids for bedding in Canadian dairy farms: I. Solid–liquid separation”, J. Dairy Sci., vol. 102, is. 2, pp.1832–1846, Feb. 2019. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2018-14966.
[4] ABAQUS/Standard User’s Manual, Version 6.11. 2011.
[5] P. Kucharczyk, A. Rizos, S. Munstermann, W. Bleck, “Estimation of the endurance fatigue limit for structural steel in load increasing tests at low temperature”, Fatigue & Fracture of Engineering materials & Structures, vol. 35, is. 7, pp. 628–637, Jul. 2012.
[6] J. Brnic, G. Vukelic, “Experimental determination of material mechanical properties and modeling of material behaviour in special environmental conditions”, in 6th European Conference on Computational Mechanics (ECCM 6), Glasgow, UK, 11 – 15 Jun. 2018.
[7] H. Farhat, Operation, Maintenance, and Repair of Land-Based Gas Turbines, Elsevier: 1st Edition - June 16, 2021. ISBN: 9780128218341