Investigation on Mechanical Properties of Sugarcane Stalks for the Development of a Whole Cane Combine Harvester

Joby Bastian; B. Shridar

Volume : IV, Issue : IX, September - 2014

Investigation on Mechanical Properties of Sugarcane Stalks for the Development of a Whole Cane Combine Harvester

Joby Bastian, B. Shridar

Abstract :

The mechanical properties of the plant material significantly influence the performance of the different unit operations in combine harvester. Hence, studies of these properties were done prior to the design of sugarcane harvesting system. The mechanical properties of sugarcane stalk viz., bending resistance, cutting resistance, penetration resistance and crushing resistance were studied in the laboratory. It is found that the Young&rsquo;s modulus of the sugarcane stalks as 86MPa, The specific cutting resistance varies between 1764.56 and 957.48kNm&ndash;2, penetration resistance ranged from 29.74kNm&ndash;2 to 56.33kNm&ndash;2 and the crushing force varied from 0.75kN to 1.53kN.