DATA ANALYSIS AND TRACTION PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF AN ELECTRIC ALL-WHEEL DRIVE TRACTOR DURING AGRICULTURAL OPERATION

Owing to the increasing need for research on electric all-wheel drive (AWD) systems, an investigation on the AWD systems applicable to tractors was conducted in this study. The experimental platform consisted of an electric power transmission system including four sets of electric motors, helical and planetary reducers, wheels, and an electrical system including chargers, batteries (LiFePO₄), converters, and inverters. The drive control system of the electric AWD tractor was divided into the AWD and the motor controller. The data measurement system consisted of analog (current and traction force) and digital (battery voltage, current, motor rotational speed, state of charge (SOC) level, and travel speed) components that communicate using a controller area network (CAN) bus. Data measured during plowing were used to calculate motor power, motor torque, traction power, and driving power to analyze the power consumption of an electric AWD tractor. The traction performance of the electric AWD tractor was evaluated using tractive efficiency, calculated values (traction power and driving power), and dynamic ratio. The maximum and minimum average voltage of the electric AWD tractor during plowing were 72.2 and 64.7 V, respectively, and the average value was measured as 68.2 V. The average value of the maximum current applied to the inverter was 362.4 A, and the mean value was measured as 187.5 A. The average value of the maximum rotational speed of the four motors was 2111.5 rpm, while the mean rotational speed during the operation was 1131.9 rpm. The average value of motor torque was 79.4 Nm. The decrease rate of battery SOC level per minute was calculated as an average of 1.4%/min. The maximum values of the traction and driving power during plowing were 42.0 and 73.7 kW. The maximum tractive efficiency (TE) was 0.77, with an average TE of 0.47. The maximum dynamic ratio (DR) was 0.28, with an average DR of 0.18. The TE of a conventional tractor was found to be a maximum of 0.61, with averages of 0.41, respectively. The average TE of the electric AWD tractor was approximately 14% higher than that of the conventional tractor. Data analysis indicates that the electric AWD tractor performing speed control is vulnerable to slip, and further research is necessary to improve AWD system performance through speed and slip control.