Design of a Pendulum Impact Cutter to Measure Plant Stalk Cutting Force and Energy

Abstract

Aims: A research study was conducted to examine how the blade type, cross-sectional area of stalks and moisture content of the crop is affecting the cutting energy and cutting force needed for the harvesting of blackgram and greengram stalks. A pendulum impact cutter was developed for the measurement of cutting energy and force. Methodology: The plant was positioned in the stalk holder to replicate the natural arrangement of stalks in a field. Three types of blades such as smooth edge, V-shaped and serrated type were used for the present study. Results: The experimental findings indicated that an increase in the cross-sectional area of blackgram and greengram stalks resulted in higher cutting energy and cutting force requirements for all the three types of blades. The decrease in moisture content of greengram and blackgram crops leads to increase in cutting energy and cutting force by all the three blades. The reason for increase of cutting energy and cutting force at low moisture content i.e., both plant materials exhibit a fibrous property at low moisture content which holds a higher strength. So, more cutting energy and cutting force is required for cutting at low moisture contents. The serrated type blade exhibited lower cutting energy and cutting force requirements in comparison to the smooth edge and V-shaped types of blades across all stalk diameters. Among three blades, serrated blade is best for cutting of green gram and black gram, which reported less cutting energy and force. The following functional relationship is drawn from this research i.e., the cutting energy and cutting force is directly proportional to the cross-sectional area of stalks and inversely proportional to the moisture content of the crop.