Metrological changes in the surface morphology of cereal grains in the mixing process

Abstract

Abstract The paper presents a new idea of approach to the analysis of surface morphology of cereal grains. In this paper, the surfaces of maize were analyzed using an optical 3D measurement system to determine the surface morphology and parameters of surface topography. It was established how changes in the moisture influence on the surface characteristics. Comprehensive parametric analysis was conducted for maize grains with different moisture contents. The objective of this study was to comprehensively characterize the surface morphology of maize in contact area using standardized 3D roughness parameters as well as other characteristics such as structure direction and isotropy. This is the first study that has presented, elucidated, and discussed the relationships between some morphological parameters of cereal grains. This research contributes to better understanding of the mixing process. The main findings are: the values of roughness parameters kurtosis and skewness are characterized by higher values for maize grains with lower moisture, compared with maize grains with higher moisture content; there is a close relationship between the maize grain moisture content and the surface roughness parameters of kurtosis and skewness; maize grains have an anisotropic structure.