Global Simulation Environment for the Global Efficiency Improvement in Agricultural Tractors

The paper describes the activity performed within the frame of the research "Innovative solution for power saving in hydraulic circuits of agricultural tractors" Italian National Research Program (PRIN). It aims of showing a new paradigm in the study of the agricultural machine energy saving solutions by means of an agricultural tractor global simulation model developed at IMAMOTER-C.N.R. The development procedure of the global simulation model is described in the paper. The transmission system, the handling and loading system, and the auxiliary actuation sub-systems were modelled using a traditional specialized simulation program and then integrated in the tractor dynamic model. The integration of the detail models into the tractor dynamic model made possible a direct comparison between the different simulation environments, under a prescribed, yet flexible, mission profile.