Original Articles
Early Access
https://doi.org/10.4081/jae.2026.2036

Kinetic analysis and parameter optimization of cone frustum-steel roll baling mechanism for round balers

Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Published: 16 June 2026
7
Views
5
Downloads
Round baler, cone frustum-steel roll baling mechanism, kinetic analysis, parameter optimization

Authors

Huinan Huang
huanghuinan@henau.edu.cn
College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China.
Guangyu Hou
College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China.
Baohao Su
College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China.
Hao Yin
College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China.
Shaoshuai Xie
College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China.
Hui Tian
College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China.
Junliang Tian
College of Modern Agriculture, Lan Kao Vocational College of San Nong, Lankao, China.
Weizeng Lv
College of Modern Agriculture, Lan Kao Vocational College of San Nong, Lankao, China.
Dong Yao
College of Modern Agriculture, Lan Kao Vocational College of San Nong, Lankao, China.
Zhijun Lv
College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China.
Zijiang Fu
College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, China.

To address the poor adaptivity and blockage of straw round balers, a cone frustum-steel roll baling mechanism was designed. Through stress analysis in the frustum-wheat straw interaction process, the conicity of the frustrum was determined to be 32° to 63.4°. To expound the winding and axial migration law of wheat straw layers, EDEM 2024 was adopted to simulate the baling process of the cone frustum-steel roll baling mechanism. Taking the rotation speed of rolling-pressing steel rolls, frustum conicity, and axial clearance as test factors and formation time of rotating straw core as evaluation index, three-factor three-level horizontal regression response surface experiments were conducted. The regression equation was established to analyze influences of various factors on the index, the optimal parameter combination was determined: when the axial clearance, rotation speed of rolling-pressing steel rolls, and frustum conicity are 3.935 cm, 261.9 rpm, and 44.767 °, the predicted formation time is 5.237 s. The parameter combination was verified by tests, in which the formation time of a rotating straw core is 5.42 s, the formation time is 3.58 s shorter than that during operation of steel-roll baling mechanism. The research results provide a theoretical basis for the innovative design of round balers.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations

Biziorek S, Delphigué D, 2011. Round baler with electrically driven roller. United States Patent Registration US8807023B2.
Chen LQ, Zhu JW, Liu C, 2025. [Optimal design and test of wheat plot breeding threshing device].[Article in Chinese with English abstract]. Trans Chin Soc for Agric Mach 56:72-81.
Coppola F, Ruffin A, Meneghetti G, 2025. In-field load acquisitions on a variable chamber round baler using instrumented hub carriers and a dynamometric towing pin. Appl Sci 15:8579.
Cundiff SJ, Grisso DR, Webb GE, 2024. Cost comparison for emerging technologies to haul round bales for the biorefinery industry. AgriEngineering 6:1549-1567. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/agriengineering6020088
Do Canto JL, Klepac J, Rummer R, Savoie P, Seixas F, 2011. Evaluation of two round baling systems for harvesting understory biomass. Biomass Bioenergy 35:2163-2170.
Du R, Zhang H, Li D, 2010. Experiment and research on forming box of wound bundler. J North China Inst Aerosp Eng 20:1-3.
Guo Q, Zhuang Y, Xu H, Li W, Li H, Wu Z, 2025. Optimization of the screw conveyor device based on a GA-BP neural network. Machines 13:24.
Horstmann J, 2014. Agricultural round baler with height-adjustable shaping and pressing channel. United States Patent Registration US-8910460.
Huang H, Zhang Y, Hou G, Su B, Yin H, Fu Z, et al., 2025. Establishment of hollow flexible model with two types of bonds and calibration of the contact parameters for wheat straw. Agriculture 15:1686.
Li M, 2022. Promotion and application of wheat straw mechanical picking and baling. Mod Agric Mach 1:24-25.
Li W, Zhao WJ, Zhu H, Zhai L, He X, 2025. [Design and experiment of variable pitch potato grading devices based on DEM-MBD coupling].[Article in Chinese with English abstract]. Trans Chin Soc for Agric Mach 56:94-104.
Li Y, Wang D, Li D, Wang M, 2016. [Theoretical analysis and experiment of baling mechanism of roll-disk round baler].[Article in Chinese with English abstract]. Trans Chin Soc for Agric Mach 47:45-52.
Liao Y, Wu A, Liao Q, Zheng J, Wang C, Zhang Q, 2025. [Design and experiment of pneumatic fertilizer discharging system for high speed seeder for rapeseed and wheat].[Article in Chinese with English abstract]. Trans Chin Soc for Agric Mach 56:60-71.
Liu L, Wang X, Zhong X, Zhang X, Geng Y, Zhou H, Chen T, 2024. Design and experiment of furrow side pick-up soil blade for wheat strip-till planter using the discrete element method. J Agric Eng 55:1546.
Liu X, 2025. The comprehensive utilization of crop straws. Hebei Agric Mach 2:91-93.
Lv B, Xiong F, 2018. An analysis and simulation on meshing force of main chain drive in baling process of round balers. IOP Conf Ser Earth Environ Sci 170:042092. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/170/4/042092
Ma Z, Zhao Z, Quan W, 2023. Calibration of discrete element parameter of rice stubble straw based on EDEM. J Agric Sci Technol 25:103-113.
Mei F, Li B, Xu Z, Li X, Zhu X, 2025. Discrete element modeling of straw bale: An innovative approach to simulate the compression mechanics of fiber-based materials. Comput Electron Agric 231:110002. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2025.110002
Senthilkumar T, Kavitha R, Shridar B, 2016. Performance evaluation of round type rice straw balers. Indian J Agric Sci 86:130-132. DOI: https://doi.org/10.56093/ijas.v86i6.59001
Shang Y, Meng Z, Cong Y, Dong J, Luo C, Song Z, 2021. Development of a control system with remote monitoring function for round baler. Comput Electron Agric182:106044. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2021.106044
Sun Q, Wang P, Shi S, 2022. The round baler modeling design based on unconscious quantification. Appl Nanosci 13:1-12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13204-021-02155-1
Tang Z, 2007. Design of large interior spiral wound bundler. China Dairy Cattle 4:42-45.
Wang C, Han M, Gong Z, 2022. Structural design and simulation analysis of baler with variable bale chambers. J Chin Agric Mech 43:1-6.
Wang D, Jiang Y, Wang J, 2010. [Structure-improving and experiment of steel-roll round baler].[Article in Chinese with English abstract]. Trans Chin Soc for Agric Mach 41:84-88.
Wang J, Li X, Huang W, Wu L, Cui J, Bai H, Zeng F, 2024. Mathematical model for bale-density prediction in large steel roller-type round balers during bale rolling. Bioresour Technol 396:130445.
Xie J, Zhang H, Feng H, Huang W, Jin J, Ma W, 2025. [Design and experiment of friction adjustable precision seed feeder device for wheat experimental sowing].[Article in Chinese with English abstract]. Trans Chin Soc for Agric Mach 56:164-173.
Xie W, Ouyang C, Jiang P, Meng D, Luo H, 2024. [Calibrating and optimizing the discrete element parameters for clamping section stems during rape shoot harvesting].[Article in Chinese with English abstract]. T CSAE 40:104-116.
Yang Q, Lü Z, Yan Y, Yang S, Li F, Song Z, Chen Y, 2025. [Optimization design and experiment of vertical rotary harrow for mulberry plantation].[Article in Chinese with English abstract]. Trans Chin Soc for Agric Mach 56:210-220.
Yin J, Chen Z, Liu C, Zhou M, Liu L, 2023. Design and experiments of a real-time bale density monitoring system based on dynamic weighing. Sensors (Basel) 23:1778.
Zhang J, Feng B, Yu X, Zhao C, Li H, Kan Z, 2022. Experimental study on the crushing properties of corn stalks in square bales. Processes 10:168. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/pr10010168
Zhang Q, 2021. [Analysis of straw burning and comprehensive utilization].[Article in Chinese with English abstract]. Agric Henan 19:7-8.
Zhang Q, Qi T, Yan H, Liao Q, Du W, Cai J, 2025a. [Design and experiment of rape direct seeding straw mulching returning device in rice stubble field].[Article in Chinese with English abstract]. Trans Chin Soc for Agric Mach 56:186-196.
Zhang T, Liu F, Zhao M ,Ma Q, Wang W, Fan Q, Yan P, 2018. Determination of corn stalk contact parameters and calibration of discrete element method simulation. China Agric Univ J Soc Sci Ed 23:120-127.
Zhang Y, Hao Z, Xu T, Diao P, Zhou H, Mei W, 2025b. [Design and experiment of dynamic compensation adaptive straw removal device for corn no-till seeder].[Article in Chinese with English abstract]. Trans Chin Soc for Agric Mach 56:174-185.
Zhao P, Deng M, Wang M, Wang Z, Tuo J, Liu Z, et al., 2025. [Design and experiment of pneumatic swash plate wheat wide-seedling-belt uniform sowing device].[Article in Chinese with English abstract]. Trans Chin Soc for Agric Mach 56:38-47.
Zhao R, Cao J, Zhu T, 2021. [Analysis on the international trade and competitiveness of Chinese wheat].[Article in Chinese with English abstract]. J Chuzhou Univ 23 14-19+41.
Zhao X, Yang L, Dai X, Zhang N, Guo X, Dong J, et al., 2019. Research status and development trend of wheat straw round balers. Agric Eng 9:4-28.
Zhao Z, Huang H, Yin J, Yang SX, 2018. Dynamic analysis and reliability design of round baler feeding device for rice straw harvest. Biosyst Eng 174:10-19.

CRediT authorship contribution

Huinan Huang, Zhijun Lv, conceptualization, methodology, project administration, funding acquisition, writing – review & editing. Guangyu Hou, software, validation, writing – review & editing. Guangyu Hou, Baohao Su, formal analysis, writing – review & editing. Huinan Huang, Guangyu Hou, writing – original draft, writing – review & editing. Hao Yin, Shaoshuai Xie, Hui Tian, Junliang Tian, Weizeng Lv, Dong Yao, Zijiang Fu, writing – review & editing. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Supporting Agencies

National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 52205261], Henan Province Science and Technology Research Project [grant number 252102110350] , Henan Province Science and Technology Research Project [grant number 252102111177]

Data Availability Statement

The data used to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

How to Cite



“Kinetic analysis and parameter optimization of cone frustum-steel roll baling mechanism for round balers” (2026) Journal of Agricultural Engineering [Preprint]. doi:10.4081/jae.2026.2036.
Copyright (c) 2026 the Author(s) Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.