Analysis of collision damage of Fritillaria ussuriensis Maxim during drum screening

Abstract

During the drum screening of Fritillaria ussuriensis Maxim (FUM), collisions between FUM bulbs are the main cause of mechanical damage. The effects of the mass relationship and the position, direction, and height of the collision on the absorbed energy and mass–loss ratio of FUM were analyzed through collision tests. The results of the constructed regression models showed that the collision direction has no significant effect on the mass–loss ratio, whereas the mass relationship and the position, direction, and height of the collision showed significance. Under different mass relationships, the collision positions and direction, and the collision height are positively correlated with the absorbed energy and mass–loss ratio, and the absorbed energy is also positively correlated with the mass–loss ratio. In addition, the influence of the mass relationship and collision height, position, and direction on the absorbed energy are highly significant. The research findings serve as a valuable reference for designing and developing low‐loss drum screening processes.Practical applicationsFritillaria ussuriensis Maxim (FUM) is a traditional Chinese medicine. The planting area is wide and the economic benefit is high. The annual economic benefit for farmers is about 1.8 billion yuan. However, the existing production method has a low degree of mechanization, especially the harvest stage, which mainly relies on manual harvesting, is limited by the number of labor force and the harvest time is in the rainy season (FUM is easily spoiled in water), which is easy to cause economic losses. To determine better working parameters, the damage factors of FUM during screening were analyzed by developing and testing the drum‐type FUM harvester. It is helpful to improve the production efficiency of FUM, and reduce the labor demand and the damage of screening to FUM.