Design and Performance Evaluation of a Multi-Point Extrusion Walnut Cracking Device
The practical problems of existing methods of walnut cracking under compression loading, including incomplete walnut-shell crushing, broken walnut kernels, and so on, are widespread in walnut processing and are constraints that hinder mechanized walnut processing. Therefore, attempts have been made...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-09-01
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| Series: | Agriculture |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/9/1494 |
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| author | Hong Zhang Hualong Liu Yong Zeng Yurong Tang Zhaoguo Zhang Ji Che |
| author_facet | Hong Zhang Hualong Liu Yong Zeng Yurong Tang Zhaoguo Zhang Ji Che |
| author_sort | Hong Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The practical problems of existing methods of walnut cracking under compression loading, including incomplete walnut-shell crushing, broken walnut kernels, and so on, are widespread in walnut processing and are constraints that hinder mechanized walnut processing. Therefore, attempts have been made to design and optimize a multi-point extrusion walnut cracking device. For this, walnuts were fed manually into a cracking unit through the hopper. The tangential force of the grading roller graded the walnuts and dropped them into the gap between the rotating cracking roller and extrusion plate, causing them to crack. The developed machine was tested and the parameters were optimized using a central composite design (CCD). The objective functions involving the cracking angle (CA: 0.17, 0.27, 0.52, 0.76, 0.86°) and roller speed (RS: 63, 75, 105, 135, 147 r/min) were calculated. The shell cracking rate (<i>SCR</i>), whole kernel rate (<i>WKR</i>), and specific energy consumption (Es) regression models were established using the quadratic regression orthogonal combination test and the parameters were optimized using MATLAB software. The results showed that the most significant factors for the RS were the linear terms of the <i>SCR</i> and <i>WKR</i>, whereas for the CA the most significant factor was the linear term of the Es. The interaction term of the two factors had a significant effect on the three indicators. The optimal parameter combination was determined to be 0.47° for the CA and 108 r/min for the RS. On this basis, the adaptability test showed that the cracking device had a better cracking effect on walnuts with a gap between the walnut shell and kernel greater than 1.6 mm and a shell thickness less than 1.2 mm. The results have practical significance for the design of walnut cracking devices. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T01:00:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b73f066c8a6a485597fb1ae8815ba87e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-0472 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T01:00:54Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Agriculture |
| spelling | doaj.art-b73f066c8a6a485597fb1ae8815ba87e2023-11-23T14:34:50ZengMDPI AGAgriculture2077-04722022-09-01129149410.3390/agriculture12091494Design and Performance Evaluation of a Multi-Point Extrusion Walnut Cracking DeviceHong Zhang0Hualong Liu1Yong Zeng2Yurong Tang3Zhaoguo Zhang4Ji Che5College of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, Tarim University, Alar 843300, ChinaCollege of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, Tarim University, Alar 843300, ChinaCollege of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, Tarim University, Alar 843300, ChinaCollege of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, Tarim University, Alar 843300, ChinaFaculty of Modern Agricultural Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650000, ChinaXinjiang Jiangning Light Industry Mechanical Engineering Technology Co., Ltd., Urumqi 830011, ChinaThe practical problems of existing methods of walnut cracking under compression loading, including incomplete walnut-shell crushing, broken walnut kernels, and so on, are widespread in walnut processing and are constraints that hinder mechanized walnut processing. Therefore, attempts have been made to design and optimize a multi-point extrusion walnut cracking device. For this, walnuts were fed manually into a cracking unit through the hopper. The tangential force of the grading roller graded the walnuts and dropped them into the gap between the rotating cracking roller and extrusion plate, causing them to crack. The developed machine was tested and the parameters were optimized using a central composite design (CCD). The objective functions involving the cracking angle (CA: 0.17, 0.27, 0.52, 0.76, 0.86°) and roller speed (RS: 63, 75, 105, 135, 147 r/min) were calculated. The shell cracking rate (<i>SCR</i>), whole kernel rate (<i>WKR</i>), and specific energy consumption (Es) regression models were established using the quadratic regression orthogonal combination test and the parameters were optimized using MATLAB software. The results showed that the most significant factors for the RS were the linear terms of the <i>SCR</i> and <i>WKR</i>, whereas for the CA the most significant factor was the linear term of the Es. The interaction term of the two factors had a significant effect on the three indicators. The optimal parameter combination was determined to be 0.47° for the CA and 108 r/min for the RS. On this basis, the adaptability test showed that the cracking device had a better cracking effect on walnuts with a gap between the walnut shell and kernel greater than 1.6 mm and a shell thickness less than 1.2 mm. The results have practical significance for the design of walnut cracking devices.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/9/1494walnutmulti-point extrusioncentral composite design (CCD)parameter optimization |
| spellingShingle | Hong Zhang Hualong Liu Yong Zeng Yurong Tang Zhaoguo Zhang Ji Che Design and Performance Evaluation of a Multi-Point Extrusion Walnut Cracking Device Agriculture walnut multi-point extrusion central composite design (CCD) parameter optimization |
| title | Design and Performance Evaluation of a Multi-Point Extrusion Walnut Cracking Device |
| title_full | Design and Performance Evaluation of a Multi-Point Extrusion Walnut Cracking Device |
| title_fullStr | Design and Performance Evaluation of a Multi-Point Extrusion Walnut Cracking Device |
| title_full_unstemmed | Design and Performance Evaluation of a Multi-Point Extrusion Walnut Cracking Device |
| title_short | Design and Performance Evaluation of a Multi-Point Extrusion Walnut Cracking Device |
| title_sort | design and performance evaluation of a multi point extrusion walnut cracking device |
| topic | walnut multi-point extrusion central composite design (CCD) parameter optimization |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/9/1494 |
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