Technology for Developing a Domestic Agricultural Sprayer Nozzle

In the context of agricultural intensification, the reliability of plant protection equipment becomes increasingly important. Spray nozzles are among the most vulnerable components of sprayers, as their failure is primarily caused by intensive wear of the orifice. The wear results in excessive consumption of the working fluid and increased environmental risks. One promising approach to improving the wear resistance of domestically produced sprayer nozzles is the development of polyacetal-based composites reinforced with silicon carbide. ( Research purpose ) To investigate the mixing behaviors of composite components during melt processing in an injection molding machine for the manufacture of agricultural sprayer nozzles. ( Materials and methods ) Previous studies have demonstrated that the use of silicon carbide as a dispersed filler increases wear resistance and extends the service life of spray nozzles. In the present study, focusing on the manufacturing technology of sprayer nozzles, the melting behavior of a polyacetal–silicon carbide composite during injection molding was simulated using simultaneous thermal analysis (STA). The experimental procedure involved obtaining STA curves of the melting process, followed by data processing in the OriginPro 8 software environment and subsequent analysis of the results. ( Results and discussion ) A methodology for studying filler behavior during composite melting in the manufacturing process is proposed. Analysis of changes in the melting behavior after introduction of the filler made it possible to determine its influence on the processing technology. ( Conclusions ) The interaction between silicon carbide and the polyacetal matrix was demonstrated, both in terms of the filler’s effect on polymer macromolecules and its role in the crystallization process as crystal nucleation centers. As a result, specifi c features of the manufacturing technology for sprayer nozzles made of a polyacetal–silicon carbide composite were identified.