Study of mechanical and technological properties of seed fruits of vegetable and melon crops

Abstract

The analysis of literature sources shows that the production of seed material for vegetable and melon crops is one of the most important problems that exists in the field of agricultural processing. The production of cucumber and melon seeds is an urgent issue in view of the volume of their cultivation in Ukraine. To study the processes of fruit grinding and seed production in agriculture, the key parameters are the dynamic friction coefficient, the volume deformation coefficient and the static load coefficient, but existing methods and equipment are limited to determining the limit values of the indicators, not allowing a full study of the dynamics of changes in properties at different stages of the technological process. To solve this, it is proposed to develop new methods, in particular, the use of computer modelling, which will allow a more detailed study and optimisation of physical and mechanical properties and their changes. The aim of the article was to study the physical and mechanical properties of vegetable fruits, which have the greatest impact on the quality of the technological process of fruit seed grinding and preliminary seed extraction. The study was conducted in the problematic research laboratory of the Faculty of Engineering and Energy of Mykolaiv National Agrarian University. Experimental setups were used to determine the dynamic coefficient of friction of melon and cucumber seeds, a device for determining the initial density of seed fruits, and a device for determining the dependence of seed deformation on compressive load. Experimental data show that the most optimal values of the static coefficient of friction, depending on the type of surface, for cucumber and melon seeds are perforated sieves, the values of which are 0.75 and 0.85, respectively. Optimal values of dynamic friction coefficients for cucumber have a surface made of perforated sieve – 0.69 and for melon made of aluminium – 0.88. The dependence of the linear deformation of seed fruits on the specific pressure increases from 0.9 to 3.6. The values of fruit deformation from compressive load vary from 4.1 to 24.6. The research presented in the article is of practical importance and can be used in the field of agricultural production and in the development of new engineering solutions