The dependance of breakage energy on the grain size for selected biomaterials

Abstract

The aim of this research is to expand the knowledge on the description of the grains breakage energy. In effect of the research a model to describe the rice and corn grains breakage energy in dependance of size was developed. This was achieved by linking the level of grinding energy with the properties of the material (particle size) and the loading conditions. The selected grains (rice and corn) were subjected to loads (compression and cutting) on a testing machine. Based on the force-displacement curves, the relationship between the energy necessary to cause a breakage and particle size was described. The results show, that the energy needed for grain shearing changes with the particle size according to the power law, similarly to brittle materials. Through proposed modeling approach, it will be possible to reduce undesirable grain damage as well as improve the operation and design of processing machines in terms of their energy consumption and efficiency.