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Highlights

The sliding and shearing combined basecutter was proposed, and the main structure and working principle were analyzed.

Abstract. Sugarcane is an important economic and sugar crop. Existing sugarcane basecutters have problems associated with large cutting resistance, high energy consumption, and poor cutting quality. Based on the sliding and shearing combined basecutter, the energy consumption of cutting cane was studied. The structure and working principle of the basecutter were stated, and the motion trajectory was also analyzed. The stubble cutting quality of the sliding and shearing combined basecutter was better than that of the disc type basecutter explored in previous research. However, the relationship between factors and energy consumption was not studied. Therefore, the influence of the rotational speed (RS), feeding speed (FS), sugarcane cluster diameter (CD), and tilt angle (TA) on the cutting energy consumption was explored. The single-factor experiments and response surface experiments were conducted. The single-factor test results showed the energy consumption decreased first and then increased with RS, FS, and TA within the selected range, while the energy consumption was approximately proportional to the sugarcane cluster diameter. The post hoc test was conducted, and the significance of factor levels was tested at a 95% confidence level. The analysis of variance result showed the influencing order of the three factors on energy consumption was RS > FS > TA. The optimal parameter combination was feeding speed 1.2 m/s, rotational speed 290 r/min, and tilt angle 14°. After the validation test, the difference between the actual value and the predicted value was less than 10%; therefore, this study was reliable. The results could provide a reference for the structure improvement and performance optimization of sugarcane harvesters.