Influences of moisture content and compressive loading speed on the mechanical properties of maize grain orientations

Abstract

Determination of the mechanical properties (rupture force, deformation, hardness, and toughness) of maize grain could be a significant concern for designing the harvester, thresher, and handling, processing, and storage equipment. Thus, the present research was conducted to assess the vertical and lateral rupture force, deformation, hardness, and toughness of maize grain (Beijing Denong, Lianchuang, Suyu 20, Liyu 88 and Suyu 29) influenced by different moisture contents (11.2%, 17.5%, and 21.3%) and compressive loading speeds (5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 mm/min, respectively). Besides, the mean length, width, thickness, geometric mean diameter, equivalent diameter, arithmetic diameter, sphericity, grain volume, surface area, and aspect ratio of the selected varieties were measured. The results showed that the highest length, width, thickness and sphericity, grain volume, surface area, and aspect ratio were obtained at moisture of 21.3%, whereas the lowest was at 11.2%. Moreover, it was observed that as increasing the loading speed from 5 to 25 mm/min, the vertical and lateral rupture forces decreased. However, as increasing moisture contents from 11.2% to 21.3%, the vertical and lateral rupture forces, hardness, and toughness decreased noticeably. Furthermore, the maximum correlation (R 2 =0.9957) between rupture force and loading speed was found for Liyu 88 at moisture of 17.5% and minimum correlation (R 2 =0.7002) was found for Suyu 29 at moisture of 11.2%. Moreover, the highest lateral and vertical rupture force was noticed (p<0.05) at a loading speed of 5 mm/min. Based on the experimentally obtained results, it was concluded that the properties of maize grain evaluated were relevant to the design of planter, harvesters, thrashers, and processing machine.

Energy-Dependent Particle Size Distribution Models for Multi-Disc Mill

“…The grains such as corn, rice, wheat, and soybean are materials that shows more elastic and plastic behaviour than the brittle inorganic materials [ 72 , 73 ]. It was shown that most agricultural materials reveal elastic behaviour in the first loading part, and with the increased loading, the properties change into viscoelastic [ 74 ]. In addition, the behaviour and impact resistance of the grains changes with several properties such as grain size, strength, vitreousness, the internal structure (including the share of starch, and protein), hardness, and moisture content [ 75 , 76 , 77 ].…”

Mechanical properties of corn: Correlation with endosperm hardness

“…The difference in moisture, protein, and starch content would cause the difference in endosperm hardness. Usually, the harder endosperm had lower moisture content and higher protein content (Budny et al, 2016; Chandio et al, 2021).…”

Investigating the Physical Properties of Corn Varieties

“…These models were selected based on their previous successful application in describing the relationship between moisture content and physical properties in various grains and seeds. Notably, these models have been used in studies related to flaxseeds (Singh, 2016), corn (Chandio et al, 2021;Coşkun et al, 2006;Karababa and Coşkuner, 2007;Sangamithra et al, 2016;Sobukola et al, 2013), velvet beans (Adeyanju et al, 2022), pinto beans (Santos et al, 2016), and sesame seeds (Eze et al, 2022;Tunde Akintunde and Akintunde, 2007). The coefficient of determination (R 2 ) was adopted as a measure for goodness of fit, with higher R 2 values indicating a higher quality of model fitness to the experimental data.…”