Investigation on some mechanical aspects of safflower seed to the design of processing equipment

Abstract

In this research, mechanical aspects of whole safflower seed was measured in terms of seed<br><br>rupture force, deformation, modulus of elasticity and rupture energy. Safflower seeds were<br><br>quasi-statically loaded in vertical orientation with moisture contents in four levels: 4%, 8%,<br><br>14% and 20%; seed size in three levels: small, medium, and large; and two varieties: Golshid<br><br>and Afshan. The results showed that the force required for initiating seed rupture decreased<br><br>from 38.5 to 42.9 N and 36.87 to 40.8 N, while the rupture energy at seed rupture increased<br><br>from 197.13 to 259.14 Jm-3 and 264.87 to 322.06 Jm-3 and seed deformation increased from<br><br>1.03 to 1.48 mm and 1.15 to 1.52 mm with increase in moisture content from 4% to 20% d.b.,<br><br>for Golshid and Afshan, respectively. The average modulus of elasticity of safflower seed from<br><br>106.13 to 90.35 Mpa and 77.85 to 65.90 Mpa were obtained for moisture levels ranging from 4<br><br>to 20%, for Golshid and Afshan varieties, respectively. Investigating effect of size revealed that<br><br>all studied mechanical aspects of safflower seed increased as size of the seed increased from