THE STUDIES OF WATER FLOW CHARACTERISTICS IN THE WATER CONDUCTING BELT OF WIDE-COVERAGE SPRINKLING MACHINES

The optimization of sprinkler water pipe parameters allows to reduce the metal consumption and machine cost, save water resources and electricity significantly. The aim of the research is to develop a scientifically grounded method for the hydraulic calculation of the water-conducting belt of wide-coverage sprinklers, which allows to determine its optimal parameters and justify the arrangement of sprinkling devices. The theoretical studies of water movement with a variable flow rate along a pipeline length made it possible to obtain the dependencies describing flow characteristics, pressure losses and flow changes taking into account the discreteness, i.e. the number of taps for sprinklers per unit of length. Experimental studies of discreteness parameter values make it possible to confirm the validity of the calculation technique application. Using the presented technique, the watering belt of the Kuban-LK1M sprinkling machine (CASCADE) was optimized, the nomenclature row of sprinkler devices was designed and introduced into production (Saratov, LLC "Meliorative machines" - FSEI HE SSAU named after N.I. Vavilov). The comparison of experimental study results with those calculated by the proposed method gives a good agreement and confirms the reliability of the obtained dependences.