Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

ENERGY NECESSITATE FOR BREAKING CUMIN (CUMINUM CYMINUM L.) STALK BY DIFFERENT CYLINDER SPIKES

Sachin V. Pathak, Abhay K. Mehta, Ajay Sharma and S. M. Mathur

Abstract

The mechanical properties of cumin seed were majorly moisture dependent and are measured in terms of energy necessitate during mean straw breaking force, seed rupture force and cumin seed detachment. For the development of thresher one of the major mechanical parameters was studied. The aim was to measure the energy needed to break the cumin stalk by impact action. Three different cylinder spikes viz. mild steel flat, square and round were used to conduct the experiment. The samples collected from a farmer’s field, which were sun-dried to obtain the three different levels of moisture content viz. 14.56, 12.27 and 8.57 percent on dry basis. The samples were exposed to the flections by impact. In the experimental setup, single selected cumin plant was placed in holding jaws and a pendulum with spike holding arrangement at the base were used for impact action. The pendulum were supported on the shaft fixed on two fixed bearings. The spikes were being impacted by a physical pendulum, it were having a free movement before and after impact. The circular dial gauge was used to record the initial and the final degree of impact. The energy necessitate varied between 0.027 to 0.163 N-m for the different cylinder spikes for different cumin branch diameters. The conclusion was arrived that the energy needed to thresh cumin crop by impact action at 8.57 percent moisture level with mild steel flat shape spike was 0.027 N-m. These findings were further used for development of cumin thresher.