Measurement of some engineering properties of sandbox seeds ( Hura crepitans )

Abstract

The physical properties of kernels, grains and seeds are necessary for the design of equipment to handle, transport, process and store the crops. The physical properties of Hura crepitans seed have been evaluated as a function of moisture contents from 9.3 to 52.4% (wb). In the moisture range considered, seed length, width, thickness, one thousand weight and geometric mean diameter increased linearly from 20.4 to 22.8mm,21.1 to 23.0mm, 5.0 to 6.9mm ,860 to 1600g and 12.89 to 15.39mm respectively. The volume, sphericity, and surface area also increased from 758.38 to 1098.91mm 3 , 0.63 to 0.69 and 522.55 to 744.09mm 2 respectively, whiles the bulk density and the true density are 0.55 and 13.40g/mm 3 respectively. It was observed that material surface is the most determinant of the magnitude of the coefficient of static friction. The coefficient of friction was highest on plywood with 0.37 for seeds and 0.66 for kernel while the lowest coefficient of friction was recorded on stainless steel, 0.32 and 0.43 for seeds and kernels respectively. For all surfaces the kernels recorded the highest coefficient of friction. Also, the kernel angle of repose was 26.2 0 which are higher than angle of repose recorded for seeds, 19.2 0 . The results of the experiment will contribute immensely to the existing knowledge aimed at solving the problems of equipments design to handle the processing of seeds.