Analysis and Mitigation of Vibrations in Front Loader Mechanisms Using Hydraulic Suspension Systems
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for Authors The paper focuses on the mitigation effect of hydraulic accumulators on tractor front loader vibration, and the selected topic fits the actual needs of agricultural machinery vibration control, but there are still some problems:
(1) The novelty of the study needs to be further clarified. The paper mentions the benefits of using “active vibration damping system” and “magnetorheological actuators” to reduce vibration in the introduction, but does not analyze the differences between the hydraulic accumulator and the existing research, and it is suggested that the technical performance, technical advantages, and cost should be fully explained.
(2) The text mentions that “The speed of the tractor engine was kept constant at 700 rpm”, but it does not explain how this speed matches the actual operating conditions, so it is suggested that the basis for the selection of this speed be added.
(3) In Table 2, the “Average” of “Without load, H on” is higher than the “Average” of “Without load, H off”, which contradicts the overall conclusion of “Accumulator reduces vibration”, so it is necessary to explain the possible cause of this anomaly.
(4) It is recommended to supplement the dynamic analysis of the accumulator to explain the intrinsic reasons for its vibration damping effect.
(5) The paper mentions that vibration levels are recorded at different points, but it is not clear whether these different points are all different locations at the tractor's hitch or include other parts? Why is it determined that the hitch is the optimal or most representative test point, and does the vibration data from this location adequately reflect the vibration felt by the operator and the vibration that has the greatest impact on the structural safety of the loader?
(6) The number of references is too few and inconsistently formatted and needs to be standardized according to the citation format required by the journal.
Author Response
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Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsDear Authors,
I had the pleasure to review your manuscript titled: Analysis and Mitigation of Vibrations in Front Loader Mechanisms Using Hydraulic Suspension Systems.
This work is useful and timely.
However, there are some shortfalls in the manuscript preparation, which should be attended to, in order to improve the quality.
It would be good to focus on more factors in the introduction. that affect the magnitude of the vibrations. You describe “Such vibrations are affected by factors such as forward speed and tire air pressure”, but there are other factors that affect the magnitude of the vibrations. I recall reading an article recently entitled “Magnitude of WBV Affecting the Tractor with a Timber Trailer Operator During Individual Timber Forwarding Operations (https://www.seefor.eu/vol-16-no-1-slama-et-al-magnitude-of-wbv-affecting-the-tractor.html)”. This article addresses a similar topic to the one you are addressing. It is clear from this article that the type of terrain also affects the magnitude of vibration. Add this article to your article and mention this issue. This article can also be mentioned in the Discussion section as it needs to be expanded.
On line 96 you have a description of the main objective. Are there any “secondary” objectives? If not, remove the word “main”.
Is there no information about the condition of the tractor, i.e. was it new? How many kilometres has it been driven? Was it operated by one worker throughout the experiment? Did it move or stand still during the experiment?
The methodology misses information on data processing. What statistical method was used, etc. Although basic statistics are provided (standard deviation, error margins), further detail on the statistical significance (e.g., p-values, confidence intervals) would strengthen the analysis.
The Discussion section is not a discussion. It is rather a Conclusion.
It needs to be completed. Compare the above results with those of other authors.
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsI have the following suggestions after reading the paper:
- The installation position of the hydraulic accumulator is not clearly demonstrated in Figure 1. It is recommended to add alphabetic or numeric markers to indicate its location in the diagram.
- The structures of Table 1 and Table 3 are incomplete. Please complete the horizontal lines at the bottom of these tables.
- The installation position of the sensor is not clearly visible in Figure 3(a). It is recommended to provide an alternative viewing angle for better clarity.
- The obtained results were compared quite poorly or not at all with similar results published in the literature - maybe for similar methods of treatment.
- Please ensure the reference format strictly adheres to the requirements of the agriculture journal (e.g., capitalization of titles and italicization).
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 4 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe manuscript revolves around the vibration problem of tractors equipped with front loaders, attempting to analyze the damping and buffering effect of hydraulic accumulators. The authors conducted some experimental tests and result analysis. Overall, the number of experiments conducted is relatively small, but this does not represent the actual role and scientific significance of this manuscript. Therefore, this manuscript should be acceptable after being revised and supplemented with some necessary content.
The following issues should be into account:
- If the authors of the manuscript are all from the same institution, there is no need to list the institution information multiple times, nor is there a need to label the numbering used to distinguish different institutions.
- What are the current ways to reduce the oscillation and vibration of tractors equipped with front loaders? What are their advantages and disadvantages? Which one has better application prospects? It is necessary for authors to elaborate and answer these questions in the manuscript introduction.
- I found that Figure 1 is a combination of two images. Authors can better present tractors equipped with hydraulic accumulators by placing photos from different angles and zoomed in images of specific areas. Alternatively, the tractor, front loader, and accumulator installation location can be indicated in the diagram.
- Figure 3a seems meaningless. Does the red dot on the tire indicate its position?The authors can use guide lines and a partially enlarged schematic diagram in Figure 3a to illustrate Figure 3b. Is it better to place multiple sensors to obtain data than a single sensor?
- The parameter explanations under equation 3 should be placed under equation 2.
- Table 3 and Figure 9 are duplicates, only one should be retained.
- The manuscript lacks a summary. The discussion in the manuscript seems to be a good summary. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust and supplement the content of the discussion and summary. From the content presented in the manuscript, it seems that the authors have conducted some necessary discussions in the section on experimental results, but these contents are far from enough. Authors should conduct more comprehensive discussion and analysis based on the experimental results. The discussion and results of the manuscript can be put together.
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThank you for your responses. All my comments have been answered.
However, I must return to comment number 1. I still think that the "Discussion" section needs to be expanded. There are many articles on similar topics.
Once again, I strongly recommend including information in your "introduction" about the influence of terrain on the magnitude of vibrations, which is discussed in the article I recommended (https://www.seefor.eu/vol-16-no-1-slama-et-al-magnitude-of-wbv-affecting-the-tractor.html).
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 4 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe authors have addressed all my comments accordingly. Thank you.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer, We sincerely thank you for the positive assessment and confirmation that the revisions meet expectations. We appreciate the time and effort devoted to reviewing our manuscript.
