6533b82cfe1ef96bd128e8a7

RESEARCH PRODUCT

A virtual spreader to overcome experimental limits: Example of use to deepen the meaning of the transverse coefficient of variation

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National audience; Nowadays, centrifugal spreading is the most used method to apply fertiliser in fields. Numeroustechnical developments have improved spreaders to reach high precision applications.Nevertheless, these developments have never taken into account the influence of the spreadingvelocity variation on the shape of the spread pattern. However, practical examples show that speedvariations regularly happen in the field. For instance, high speeds applications require punctualslowing down because of:- Trees or posts;- Slopes, hills;- Field borders/ends.Technical devices already exist to avoid the influence of the travel speed on the disc rotation speedand on the application rate in fields but these devices do not counterbalance the spread patternchanges that are due to spreader travel speed variations.The present study characterizes and quantifies the impact of the spreading speed on the spatialdistribution of fertilizers and presents a correction method on the spreader. It also presents anevaluation of the ecological performances of this proposed correction in various conditions. Finally itpresents the real implementation on a real spreader and its integration.