Performance Characterization of Automatic Creep Testing Device for Agricultural Product

Abstract

Abstract. The creep test is an important mechanical test used to measure the mechanical properties of materials, especially agricultural viscoelastic products. Unsuitable creep testing methodology and subsequent inaccurate outputs can have severe negative consequences on the agricultural product preservation. The aim of this study was to develop a novel improved creep testing device for viscoelastic materials at room temperature, especially agricultural crops. The performance of methodology against four alternative loading methods (Cycloidal, Cubic, Cosine, and Quintic) was compared. The results showed no significant differences between the generated data and alternative approaches. Some experiments were accomplished to performance evaluation, on Agria potato using stress of 110 kgf at 20°C with five replications and also to compare test results with past developed devices by the stress of 24.4 and 58.8 kgf at 22°C with three replications. The results showed no significant differences between the developed device (ACTeD- 1) data and the standard devices. Loading with Cosine-Cubic method was more applicable because it could control the impulse effects at the first moments of loading and reached the performed force with minimum damage in the material structure. Keywords: Agria, Automatic, Creep, Design, Potato, Viscoelastic.?