Determination of Physical and Mechanical Properties of Sugarcane Single-Bud Billets

Abstract

HighlightsCoefficients of restitution between billet and steel decreased with an increase in drop height and moisture content.Coefficients of restitution between billets increased with an increase in moisture content.Static friction coefficient between billet and steel, and between billets decreased with an increase in contact area.Rolling friction coefficient between billet and steel increased with an increase in angle and interval.Rolling fiction coefficient among billets first increased and then decreased with an increase in angle.Abstract. Determining the physical and mechanical properties of sugarcane single-bud billets is a critical step in the mechanical structure design of a sugarcane planter. In this study, samples of the Tai Tang F66 cultivar sugarcane billets were analyzed. The moisture content of the samples of billets ranged from 63.78% to 77.72%, and their average density was 244.67 kg/m3. The coefficient of restitution (CoR) of the samples was determined by a drop test wherein samples were dropped onto a steel plate from different heights. The static friction coefficient (SFC) of four types of samples was determined by the inclined plate method at two orientations. In addition, the rolling friction coefficient (RFC) was determined at three plate inclination angles and sample displacement. The experiment results showed that with increasing drop height and moisture content, the billet-steel CoR decreased from 0.625 to 0.458, while the billet-billet CoR increased from 0.603 to 0.698. With an increase in contact area, the billet-steel SFC decreased from 0.515 to 0.377 and the billet-billet SFC decreased from 0.498 to 0.323. With increasing angle and sample displacement, the billet-steel RFC increased from 0.0315 to 0.2175 and the billet-billet RFC increased from 0.0203 to 0.1007. These parameters can help to build a more accurate simulation model of a single-bud billet particle for the discrete element analysis of a sugarcane single-bud billet planter mechanical structure. Keywords: Coefficient of restitution, Rolling friction coefficient, Single-bud billet, Static friction coefficient.