Design and Development of Supersonic Shockwave Soil-Loosening Device That Can Improve the Aeration of Crop Root Zone

When the soil at the plant roots is poorly ventilated due to few pores, the root system will grow short and shallow, leading to poor growth. In this paper, we developed a shockwave soil-loosening device. It can first drill a hollow drill bit containing multi-directional holes into the soil near the...

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Main Authors: Ming-Sen Hu, Uzu-Kuei Hsu, Shang-Han Tsai, Chia-Hsing Lee
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-03-01
Series:Applied Sciences
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/5/2714
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author Ming-Sen Hu
Uzu-Kuei Hsu
Shang-Han Tsai
Chia-Hsing Lee
author_facet Ming-Sen Hu
Uzu-Kuei Hsu
Shang-Han Tsai
Chia-Hsing Lee
author_sort Ming-Sen Hu
collection DOAJ
description When the soil at the plant roots is poorly ventilated due to few pores, the root system will grow short and shallow, leading to poor growth. In this paper, we developed a shockwave soil-loosening device. It can first drill a hollow drill bit containing multi-directional holes into the soil near the roots of the crops and then generate high-pressure gas to impact the soil outside the drill bit to increase the soil pores. Therefore, this can quickly improve soil aeration. We conducted numerical simulations of shockwave loosening to explore how 3.4 atm shockwaves are emitted from the drill bit’s porous nozzles and analyze the behavior and efficiency of shockwave loosening. We also performed visual observation experiments of shockwave multi-directional impact in a transparent acrylic water tank. Furthermore, we used eight pressure sensors to automatically measure the range of shockwave impact and found that when the storage tank volume was 5000 cm<sup>3</sup>, we could achieve a soil loosening range of 30 cm. Finally, this shockwave-loosening mechanism ensures that the soil surface will not be damaged during the loosening process, thus avoiding large-scale tillage disturbance of the soil. This will reduce carbon emissions stored in soil and released into the atmosphere.
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spelling doaj-art-2bb1325f79544f36b382a75db99b6e6b2025-08-20T02:52:35ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172025-03-01155271410.3390/app15052714Design and Development of Supersonic Shockwave Soil-Loosening Device That Can Improve the Aeration of Crop Root ZoneMing-Sen Hu0Uzu-Kuei Hsu1Shang-Han Tsai2Chia-Hsing Lee3Department of Management, Air Force Institute of Technology, Kaohsiung 820009, TaiwanBachelor Program in Artificial Intelligence and Mechatronics, Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung 912301, TaiwanBachelor of Program in Scientific Agriculture, Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung 912301, TaiwanDepartment of Plant Industry, Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung 912301, TaiwanWhen the soil at the plant roots is poorly ventilated due to few pores, the root system will grow short and shallow, leading to poor growth. In this paper, we developed a shockwave soil-loosening device. It can first drill a hollow drill bit containing multi-directional holes into the soil near the roots of the crops and then generate high-pressure gas to impact the soil outside the drill bit to increase the soil pores. Therefore, this can quickly improve soil aeration. We conducted numerical simulations of shockwave loosening to explore how 3.4 atm shockwaves are emitted from the drill bit’s porous nozzles and analyze the behavior and efficiency of shockwave loosening. We also performed visual observation experiments of shockwave multi-directional impact in a transparent acrylic water tank. Furthermore, we used eight pressure sensors to automatically measure the range of shockwave impact and found that when the storage tank volume was 5000 cm<sup>3</sup>, we could achieve a soil loosening range of 30 cm. Finally, this shockwave-loosening mechanism ensures that the soil surface will not be damaged during the loosening process, thus avoiding large-scale tillage disturbance of the soil. This will reduce carbon emissions stored in soil and released into the atmosphere.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/5/2714crop growthroot zonesoil aerationshockwaveCFD numerical simulationsoil-loosening device
spellingShingle Ming-Sen Hu
Uzu-Kuei Hsu
Shang-Han Tsai
Chia-Hsing Lee
Design and Development of Supersonic Shockwave Soil-Loosening Device That Can Improve the Aeration of Crop Root Zone
Applied Sciences
crop growth
root zone
soil aeration
shockwave
CFD numerical simulation
soil-loosening device
title Design and Development of Supersonic Shockwave Soil-Loosening Device That Can Improve the Aeration of Crop Root Zone
title_full Design and Development of Supersonic Shockwave Soil-Loosening Device That Can Improve the Aeration of Crop Root Zone
title_fullStr Design and Development of Supersonic Shockwave Soil-Loosening Device That Can Improve the Aeration of Crop Root Zone
title_full_unstemmed Design and Development of Supersonic Shockwave Soil-Loosening Device That Can Improve the Aeration of Crop Root Zone
title_short Design and Development of Supersonic Shockwave Soil-Loosening Device That Can Improve the Aeration of Crop Root Zone
title_sort design and development of supersonic shockwave soil loosening device that can improve the aeration of crop root zone
topic crop growth
root zone
soil aeration
shockwave
CFD numerical simulation
soil-loosening device
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/15/5/2714
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