Key Failure Zone Identification and Wear Mechanism Analysis of Commercial Rotary Tillage Blades

Against the background of severe wear failure of Rotary Tillage blades restricting agricultural tillage efficiency, this study aimed to explore wear resistance differences, reveal wear mechanisms and locate critical failure zones to support blade material selection, structural optimization and localized strengthening. Five commercial IT195 Rotary Tillage blades made of 65Mn and 60Si2Mn steels were tested via a soil-bin rotary wear test rig. Microstructure, hardness and wear morphology were characterized by metallographic microscopy, Vickers hardness test and SEM, while 3D scanning and stress simulation were adopted to analyze full-cycle wear behavior of the optimal blade. The results showed that the E-type blade with 60Si2Mn possessed the best wear resistance, with minimum mass and dimensional wear loss and the gentlest wear rate, attributed to its single-phase acicular martensite and high hardness of 627.73 HV, forming uniform shallow grooves and suppressing micro-cutting and spalling. Full-cycle wear analysis demonstrated highly uneven wear distribution, with the bend transition zone linking tangential and side cutting regions identified as the critical failure zone featuring the largest wear depth and fastest material loss, verified by stress concentration from simulation. This work provides theoretical support and targeted references for material optimization, structural design and surface strengthening of key regions of Rotary Tillage blades.