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In response to the low threshing efficiency of millet ear petals, this study investigated the tensile and impact mechanical properties of millet petals during the millet threshing process. Jingu 21, Zhangza 16, and Changza 466 were used as experimental subjects to study the effects of tensile angle and growth part on fracture strength, and to determine the influence of impulse and growth part on drop and breakage rates. The results indicated that both growth part and tensile angle have a highly significant impact on the tensile fracture strength of the millet petals. The tensile fracture strength decreases with the increase in the tensile angle, and increases with the growth part from top to bottom. The variety, growth part, and impulse significantly affect the impact drop and breakage rates of the millet petals, with the main factors affecting the drop rate being impulse, variety, and growth part, in that order. When the impulse is 2.296 N·s, the threshing effect for Jingu 21 is optimal, with a drop rate of 65.091% and a breakage rate of 13.487%. This research provides theoretical insights into the simulation of the millet ear threshing process and the optimization of the performance of millet threshing equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monocrystalline silicon is widely used in the photovoltaic industry. As the thickness of wafer processing gradually decreases and the wire saw diameter becomes smaller, phenomena such as adhesion during the slicing process lead to bending or even breaking of the photovoltaic monocrystalline silicon slices, which in turn increases the breakage rate and significantly impacts the cost of photovoltaic solar cells. This study focuses on the cutting process of photovoltaic monocrystalline silicon wafers, using a three-axis bending experiment to measure and analyze the fracture strength and corresponding breakage rate of the silicon wafers. A three-dimensional simulation analysis model for the fracture strength of the silicon slicing wafers was established by finite element method. The research results show that the fracture strength of the silicon slicing wafers has a large dispersion, the average fracture strength is 97.7 MPa. The bending stiffness of the silicon slicing wafers decreases as the thickness decreases, with an average bending stiffness of 441. 2 N/m. When the thickness is 60 μm, the bending stiffness is the lowest at 103. 5 N/m. The range of wafer breakage rate increases with the decrease of thickness, and the range of wafer breakage rate of 60 μm thickness is the largest, ranging from 0. 6% to 99. 9%. Simulation and experimental results are basically consistent, indicating that the simulation model and method are suitable for the simulation and analysis of the fracture strength and breakage rate of photovoltaic monocrystalline silicon slices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Shear affects simultaneous aggregation and fragmentation of fine particles. Understanding the effect of shear on the dynamics of particle aggregation and break-up is important to predict aggregate size and structure. It is hypothesized that there is a transition from pure breakage of large aggregates to regimes where restructuring and aggregation also play a role as aggregates become smaller. Here, aggregation and fragmentation dynamics of alumina particles are investigated under laminar shear flow using Discrete Element Method (DEM) coupled with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The effect of the shear rate on the aggregation and breakage rates is quantified accounting for particle–particle and particle–fluid interactions. High shear rates promote the formation of small, compact aggregates. The collision efficiency decreases with increasing shear rate following a power law for shear rates higher than 1250 s−1. The transition from the pure breakage limit to the region dominated by breakage and restructuring has been observed for the first time. The breakage rate decreases significantly as the transition occurs upon decreasing aggregate size. CFD-DEM-derived collision efficiency and breakage rate equations are proposed that can be readily employed in detailed population balance equation models for industrial particle process design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to the low threshing efficiency of millet ear petals, this study investigated the tensile and impact mechanical properties of millet petals during the millet threshing process. Jingu 21, Zhangza 16, and Changza 466 were used as experimental subjects to study the effects of tensile angle and growth part on fracture strength, and to determine the influence of impulse and growth part on drop and breakage rates. The results indicated that both growth part and tensile angle have a highly significant impact on the tensile fracture strength of the millet petals. The tensile fracture strength decreases with the increase in the tensile angle, and increases with the growth part from top to bottom. The variety, growth part, and impulse significantly affect the impact drop and breakage rates of the millet petals, with the main factors affecting the drop rate being impulse, variety, and growth part, in that order. When the impulse is 2.296 N·s, the threshing effect for Jingu 21 is optimal, with a drop rate of 65.091% and a breakage rate of 13.487%. This research provides theoretical insights into the simulation of the millet ear threshing process and the optimization of the performance of millet threshing equipment.

In order to address the common difficulties in pulling and harvesting whole cotton stalks, such as high pulling resistance, high miss-pulling rate, and high breakage rate, which severely hinder the recycling of cotton stalks, three different pulling mechanisms with different pulling principles (wrapping-type pulling mechanism, clamping-type pulling mechanism, transverse roller-type pulling mechanism) were designed. The pulling force on cotton stalks during the pulling process of the three different roller-type pulling mechanisms was compared and analyzed, clarifying the mechanism of roller-type whole cotton stalk pulling mechanisms and identifying situations with optimal pulling force. Field comparative experiments were conducted to compare the working performance of different roller-type pulling mechanisms in the field, and a comprehensive analysis of two key indicators in pulling cotton stalks, miss-pulling rate and breakage rate, was carried out. The results showed that the pulling method and pulling force of the pulling mechanism played a crucial role in the successful pulling of cotton straws. Comparative analysis of the three pulling mechanisms revealed that the clamping-type pulling mechanism had the highest pulling force. The standard deviation means of the missed pull rates for mechanisms X1, X2, and X3 were 0.83%, 0.59%, and 0.43%, respectively, while the standard deviation means of the breakage rates were 1.48%, 1.79%, and 0.49%, respectively. The enveloping-type pulling mechanism had a higher missed pull rate with an average of 8.32%, and the clamping-type pulling mechanism resulted in excessive breakage of cotton straw during operation, with an average breakage rate of 14.10%. In contrast, the transverse roller-type straw pulling mechanism performed the best in the field performance test, as it did not require precise alignment and had an average missed pull rate of 4.55% and an average breakage rate of only 7.55%. Considering the practical needs of agriculture production, the transverse roller-type straw pulling mechanism is recommended as the pulling device for cotton straw harvesting. The research results can provide a reference for the design selection of whole-plant straw pulling mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Bulletin of the Chinese Ceramic Society is the property of Bulletin of the Chinese Ceramic Society Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Real-time knowledge of kernel breakage during corn harvesting plays a significant role in the adjustment of operational parameters of corn kernel harvesters. (1) Transfer learning by initializing the DenseNet121 network with pre-trained weights for training and validating a dataset of corn kernels was adopted. Additionally, the feature extraction capability of DenseNet121 was improved by incorporating the attention mechanism of a Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM) and a Feature Pyramid Network (FPN) structure. (2) The quality of intact and broken corn kernels and their pixels were found to be coupled, and a linear regression model was established using the least squares method. The results of the test showed that: (1) The MAPb50 and MAPm50 of the improved Mask Region-based Convolutional Neural Network (RCNN) model were 97.62% and 98.70%, in comparison to the original Mask Region-based Convolutional Neural Network (RCNN) model, which were improved by 0.34% and 0.37%, respectively; the backbone FLOPs and Params were 3.09 GMac and 9.31 M, and the feature extraction time was 206 ms; compared to the original backbone, these were reduced by 3.87 GMac and 17.32 M, respectively. The training of the obtained prediction weights for the detection of a picture of the corn kernel took 76 ms, so compared to the Mask RCNN model, it was reduced by 375 ms; based on the concept of transfer learning, the improved Mask RCNN model converged twice as quickly with the loss function using pre-training weights than the loss function without pre-training weights during training. (2) The coefficients of determination R2 of the two models, when the regression models of the pixels and the quality of intact and broken corn kernels were analyzed, were 0.958 and 0.992, respectively. These findings indicate a strong correlation between the pixel characteristics and the quality of corn kernels. The improved Mask RCNN model was used to segment mask pixels to calculate the corn kernel breakage rate. The verified error between the machine vision and the real breakage rate ranged from −0.72% to 0.65%, and the detection time of the corn kernel breakage rate was only 76 ms, which could meet the requirements for real-time detection. According to the test results, the improved Mask RCNN method had the advantages of a fast detection speed and high accuracy, and can be used as a data basis for adjusting the operation parameters of corn kernel harvesters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High breakage rate is the bottleneck that restricts corn grain mechanical harvesting in double-cropping area in China. The moisture content and compression resistance characteristics of corn grain have important effects on the breakage rate at threshing. In this paper, 5 corn varieties planted in double cropping area were selected and the effects of grain moisture content and compression resistance characteristics on threshed breakage rate were studied. Results showed that both the grains moisture content and the compression resistance characteristics had effects on the threshed breakage rate. The lower the moisture content, the greater the force required for breakage, and the more difficult it was to break. Meanwhile the breakage rate was also related to the displacement during pressing. The smaller the displacement, the lower the breakage rate, but if the displacement was too small, the corn was a silty variety and the breakage rate was still high. When the moisture content was 33%±1%, the threshing verification test showed that the average breakage rate of DH605, LY296 and KN21 was 5.39%, 5.02% and 7.13%, respectively, which was not suitable for grain mechanical harvesting under high moisture content (moisture content higher than 30%). However, the average breakage rate of LK868 and LD6018 was 4.76% and 4.25% respectively, which was suitable for grain mechanical harvesting under high moisture content. This research could provide a reference for corn varieties selection suitable for mechanical kernel harvesting in double cropping area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming to reveal the kinetic characteristics of ceramic ball grinding of fine magnetite comprehensively, two types of ceramic balls ground with the same filling rate and total weight as steel balls were researched. The results show that the breakage rate of ceramic ball grinding is only half of that of steel ball grinding with the same media filling rate. With the same total media weight and a feed size less than 0.212 mm, the breakage rate of the ceramic ball grinding approaches the steel ball grinding and is 17.14% higher than that of the steel ball grinding. The main crushing form of magnetite changed from impact to abrasion in ceramic ball grinding compared with steel ball grinding, which significantly affected the value of the zero-order output constant a. The shift indirectly led to a very different character of the variation ing the parameter β, related to the fines generation rate in the cumulative distribution function of the ceramic ball grinding compared to the steel ball grinding. Therefore, ceramic grinding with a high ball-filling rate can greatly save on energy consumption under the premise of meeting normal production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is difficult to extract small and dense objects with random state, such as grain and impurity, in image of vehicle-mounted dynamic rice grain flow on combine harvester. Therefore, this paper improves Deeplabv3+ by constructing MobileNetv2 in coding layer and adding ECA(Efficient Channel Attention) to Encoder and Decoder to improve extraction accuracy of high-dimensional features in images with a large number of objects with random state. In addition, the YOLOv4 is improved by using Mixup in preprocessing, constructing Mish in Neck and Head, adding ECA to Neck and Prediction of BackBone to improve training precision of small and dense objects and reducing effect of gradient disappearance. And the impurity/breakage rates are assessed based on relationship model between pixel area and quality, improved Deeplabv3+ and YOLOv4. The proposed method was verified by experiments with images acquired on intelligent combine harvester. Compared with existing Deeplabv3+, YOLOv4, U-NET, BP, the extraction accuracy by improved method increased by more than 4.01%. The average relative error and time of impurity/breakage assessment by proposed method were 7.69% and 1.56s. The proposed method can accurately and rapidly assess impurity/breakage rates for dynamic rice grain flow on combine harvester, and further realize closed-loop control of intelligent harvesting operation.

Wall materials of microcapsules were classified・ The advantages and disadvantages of various wall materials and the selection requirements were summarized・ The preparation methods of double-capsule wall fragrance were introduced and compared detailed. The advantages of double-capsule wall microcapsules such as good mechanical strength and flexibility, low damage rate and long fragrance retention time were emphasized, as well, the disadvantages of manufacturing process were summarized, its future development trend was also analyzed・ It is concluded that there are still certain technical challenges in industrial production of double capsule wall microcapsules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Henan Agricultural Sciences is the property of Editorial Board of Journal of Henan Agricultural Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In order to address the common difficulties in pulling and harvesting whole cotton stalks, such as high pulling resistance, high miss-pulling rate, and high breakage rate, which severely hinder the recycling of cotton stalks, three different pulling mechanisms with different pulling principles (wrapping-type pulling mechanism, clamping-type pulling mechanism, transverse roller-type pulling mechanism) were designed. The pulling force on cotton stalks during the pulling process of the three different roller-type pulling mechanisms was compared and analyzed, clarifying the mechanism of roller-type whole cotton stalk pulling mechanisms and identifying situations with optimal pulling force. Field comparative experiments were conducted to compare the working performance of different roller-type pulling mechanisms in the field, and a comprehensive analysis of two key indicators in pulling cotton stalks, miss-pulling rate and breakage rate, was carried out. The results showed that the pulling method and pulling force of the pulling mechanism played a crucial role in the successful pulling of cotton straws. Comparative analysis of the three pulling mechanisms revealed that the clamping-type pulling mechanism had the highest pulling force. The standard deviation means of the missed pull rates for mechanisms X1, X2, and X3 were 0.83%, 0.59%, and 0.43%, respectively, while the standard deviation means of the breakage rates were 1.48%, 1.79%, and 0.49%, respectively. The enveloping-type pulling mechanism had a higher missed pull rate with an average of 8.32%, and the clamping-type pulling mechanism resulted in excessive breakage of cotton straw during operation, with an average breakage rate of 14.10%. In contrast, the transverse roller-type straw pulling mechanism performed the best in the field performance test, as it did not require precise alignment and had an average missed pull rate of 4.55% and an average breakage rate of only 7.55%. Considering the practical needs of agriculture production, the transverse roller-type straw pulling mechanism is recommended as the pulling device for cotton straw harvesting. The research results can provide a reference for the design selection of whole-plant straw pulling mechanisms.

Coated fuel particles have been developed into isotropic tristructure (TRISO) for the high-temperature gas reactors. The Zy4/TRISO composite belongs to a Zy4 matrix with distributed coated surrogated nuclear fuel particles (ZrO2 kernel). In this study, the thermal deformation behavior of a Zy4/TRISO composite was investigated at temperatures of 750–950 °C and strain rates of 0.01–1.0 s−1. Thermal compression experiments were carried out with a small deformation rate of 10% height reduction. The constitutive models and processing maps of the Zy4/TRISO composite were established, and combined with scanning electron microscopy characterization. The microstructure evolution of TRISO particles during hot compression behavior was analyzed, the breakage rates of TRISO particles under different deformation conditions were evaluated, and the optimized high-temperature deformation conditions were determined. The optimization parameters were the temperature of 900°C-950 °C with strain rates of 0.01–0.1 s−1, and TRISO particles maintained their integrity. This shows that TRISO particles under a small deformation rate will not be damaged during hot compression deformation. These stable deformation conditions are hopeful to provide valuable guidance for follow-up hot deformation processes of the Zy4/TRISO composite.

• Generated experimental t n of copper ore from drop weight impact tests. • Fitted various t n functions via t n -fitted and t n -regenerated B ij approaches. • PBM with t n -based B ij fitted product PSD under wide range of milling conditions. • Use of size-dependent t n functions led to much better fits to drop weight t n data. • t n -regenerated B ij achieved improved PBM fits than t n -fitted B ij. This study aimed at assessing various energy-based breakage distribution functions B ij within the context of a population balance model (PBM) of copper ore milling in a wet stirred media mill (WSMM). First, drop weight impact tests were performed to determine the size distribution parameters, t n. Second, various t n models called t n -fitted and t n -regenerated approaches were used to fit experimental t n , and their goodness-of-fits were compared. They were then used to construct the matrices of the cumulative breakage distributions, B ij , of the PBM, while a power-law form of the specific breakage rate function, S i , was assumed. By fitting the PBM to the product particle size distributions (PSDs) obtained under various rotor speeds, suspension volumetric flow rate, and solids content, we estimated the S i parameters. Results suggest that except the Napier-Munn model, all t n models fitted the experimental drop weight data reasonably well, which was reflected in the PBM fitting of the product PSDs. The PBM fits with B ij constructed with the t n -regenerated approach were more accurate than those with the t n -fitted approach. The PBM was validated with additional tests that were not considered in the parameter estimation. Overall, we have established that the choice of t n function and the methodology to determine B ij can affect the PBM predictions of the WSMM process significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Pressure drop of helium gas in ceramic pebble bed was investigated experimentally. • Pressure drop across the pebble bed increases with the increase in pebble breakage rate. • A improved correlation for predicting the pressure drop of particle broken pebble bed is established by considering the pebble breakage rate. The solid breeder blanket is a critical component in fusion reactor, where helium purge gas flows through the solid breeder pebble bed to carry out the tritium generated during the fusion process. The flow pressure drop of helium purge gas within the breeder pebble bed is a significant parameter affecting the design of the tritium extraction system. Previous studies have indicated that the helium flow in the breeder pebble bed conforms to the theory of porous media flow. However, due to potential pebble breakage during the plasma operation, the pressure drop characteristics of the helium flow in breeder pebble bed may change as the void structure changes. The objective of this study is to measure the variation in flow pressure drop of the breeder pebble bed under different pebble crushing conditions. The flow pressure drops of intact beds (Alumina, diameter 1-1.2 mm) and four groups with different pebble breakage rates (3%, 5%, 7%, 9%) are measured using the pebble bed pressure drop test facility. The following results are obtained through experimental research: (1) The Ergun equation, Foumeny equation, and Reichelt equation can all reasonably match the experimental results of intact pebble beds; (2) The pressure drop across the pebble bed increases with the increase in pebble breakage rate, reaching approximately 1.6 times that of the intact bed at a 9% breakage rate; (3) A correlation for predicting the pressure drop of the broken pebble bed is established by introducing the pebble breakage rate (η) into the Ergun equation, which can be used to determine the pressure drop variation within a conservative range of breakage rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Real-time knowledge of kernel breakage during corn harvesting plays a significant role in the adjustment of operational parameters of corn kernel harvesters. (1) Transfer learning by initializing the DenseNet121 network with pre-trained weights for training and validating a dataset of corn kernels was adopted. Additionally, the feature extraction capability of DenseNet121 was improved by incorporating the attention mechanism of a Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM) and a Feature Pyramid Network (FPN) structure. (2) The quality of intact and broken corn kernels and their pixels were found to be coupled, and a linear regression model was established using the least squares method. The results of the test showed that: (1) The MAPb50 and MAPm50 of the improved Mask Region-based Convolutional Neural Network (RCNN) model were 97.62% and 98.70%, in comparison to the original Mask Region-based Convolutional Neural Network (RCNN) model, which were improved by 0.34% and 0.37%, respectively; the backbone FLOPs and Params were 3.09 GMac and 9.31 M, and the feature extraction time was 206 ms; compared to the original backbone, these were reduced by 3.87 GMac and 17.32 M, respectively. The training of the obtained prediction weights for the detection of a picture of the corn kernel took 76 ms, so compared to the Mask RCNN model, it was reduced by 375 ms; based on the concept of transfer learning, the improved Mask RCNN model converged twice as quickly with the loss function using pre-training weights than the loss function without pre-training weights during training. (2) The coefficients of determination R2 of the two models, when the regression models of the pixels and the quality of intact and broken corn kernels were analyzed, were 0.958 and 0.992, respectively. These findings indicate a strong correlation between the pixel characteristics and the quality of corn kernels. The improved Mask RCNN model was used to segment mask pixels to calculate the corn kernel breakage rate. The verified error between the machine vision and the real breakage rate ranged from −0.72% to 0.65%, and the detection time of the corn kernel breakage rate was only 76 ms, which could meet the requirements for real-time detection. According to the test results, the improved Mask RCNN method had the advantages of a fast detection speed and high accuracy, and can be used as a data basis for adjusting the operation parameters of corn kernel harvesters.

Ceramic grinding, which in this paper is defined as a method of using ceramic materials as grinding media, is favored by many processing plants as an emerging high-efficiency and energy-saving grinding method. This paper investigates the effect of slurry mass concentration on the grinding characteristics of magnetite by taking the feed of the secondary ball mill for processing magnetite as the research object. The study results show that the slurry mass concentration significantly affects the ceramic ball grinding characteristics of magnetite, especially for coarse particles. When the grinding concentration is higher than 50%, the breakage rate of magnetite plummets to 1/3 of the value at low mass concentrations. The standard deviation of the breakage rate relative to the concentration gradually decreases as the feed size falls, indicating that the coarser the feed size, the more sensitive the ceramic ball grinding is to the concentration, and thus industrial secondary ceramic ball mills need to avoid grinding under high-quality concentrations. The change in the consistency parameter of distribution function and zero-order output characteristics signals a radical variation in the grinding characteristics of magnetite using the ceramic ball grinding method compared to conventional grinding. Because the ceramic ball grinding method can greatly reduce energy consumption while lowering the chance of overgrinding, this grinding method deserves more attention as the world works to reach carbon neutrality and emissions peak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to boost the performance of a bivariable granular fertilizer applicator and simplify the control methodology of fertilization rate regulation, this paper proposed a fertilization decision method to obtain the optimal combination of rotational speed and opening length by selecting the accuracy, uniformity, adjustment time, and breakage rate as the optimization objectives. We processed the outlier data collected using the indoor bench test, segmented the data with the fertilization growth rate as the index, and proved the rationality of the data segmentation by an independent sample t-test. SVM, BPNN, ELM, and RVM were used to train the two data sections to create the fertilization rate prediction model, and the models with the highest accuracy in the two data sections were selected for the assembly of the final prediction model used to describe the fertilization process of the bivariate fertilizer applicator. Moreover, the fertilization performance problem model was established with the objectives of accuracy, uniformity, adjustment time, and breakage rate and was solved using the NSGA-III algorithm to gain an optimal fertilization decision. Compared with GA and MOEA-D-DE methods, the results show that, using the new method, the average relative error declines from 8.64% and 6.05% to 3.09%, and the average coefficient of variation reduces from 6.67% and 6.81% to 6.41%, respectively. In addition, the adjustment time lowers from 2.01 s and 1.33 s to 0.78 s, and the average breakage rate drops from 1.084% and 0.845% to 0.803%, respectively. It is indicated that the presented method offers the most notable improvements in accuracy and adjustment time, while the advancements in regard to uniformity and breakage rate is slight, but both are within a reasonable range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Shenyang Agricultural University is the property of Journal of Shenyang Agricultural University Editorial Department and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Controlled release technology of chemical fertilizers is an important cornerstone for the efficient development of sustainable agriculture. Damage to the coating layer and fragmentation of particles during the application of controlled release fertilizers can lead to the loss of their controlled release properties, making the development of effective damage reduction operations a key focus in the study of such agricultural materials. Therefore, this paper employs the bonded particle model (BPM) method within the discrete element method (DEM) framework to investigate the mechanism of coating damage in controlled-release fertilizers. It establishes a classification of damage types based on the level of damaged particles as an effective analytical approach. Furthermore, a comparative analysis is conducted between the discrete element particle model (DEPM) method and the bonded particle model method in terms of their performance in discharge mechanics and flow characteristics. The results indicate that the breakage rate of fertilizer discharge is influenced by both the formation of a steady state and the depletion of the fertilizer load within the container, with an average breakage rate of 1.511% over the total period. Differences in the average maximum compression force and mass flow rate between the discrete element particle model group and the bonded particle model group were 60.355 N and 1.998 g/s, respectively, reflecting limitations imposed by the fertilizer models on expected damage deformation behaviors. This study elucidates the process and potential impacts of fertilizer particle damage and deformation, revealing the strengths and limitations of two simulation model approaches under different application conditions, providing insights for sustainable agricultural production and technological innovation in fertilization equipment. [Display omitted] • Construct of model using the reciprocating piston mechanical stacking method. • Breakage rate is affected by stable state formation and fertilizer consumption. • Particle quantity gradation forms the criterion for categorizing types of damage. • Damage types reflect overall trends, predominantly partial and missing types. • The presentation of damage deformations is constrained by the fertilizer model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Bulletin of the Chinese Ceramic Society is the property of Bulletin of the Chinese Ceramic Society Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

An experimental study on single bubble breakage in the stirred tank in oil as a continuous phase was carried out for a range of stirring speeds (220 to 430 rpm). The results are compared with bubble breakage in water that was conducted by Hasan et al. (2021) to investigate the effect of physical properties of continuous phase on the breakage rate. The breakage events in the impeller were captured and analyzed using a high speed camera. It was found that the breakage rate represented by breakage probability and a number of produced daughter bubbles (fragments) are directly proportional with the stirring speed. The breakage probability and number of produced daughter bubbles in oil was noticeably lower than that in water indicating the role the continuous phase viscosity plays in reducing the breakage rate.

The most significant problem of maize grain mechanical harvesting quality in China at present is the high grain breakage rate (BR). BR is often the key characteristic that is measured to select hybrids desirable for mechanical grain harvesting. However, conventional BR evaluation and measurement methods have challenges and limitations. Microstructural crack parameters evaluation of maize kernel is of great importance to BR. In this connection, X-ray computed microtomography (μ-CT) has proven to be a quite useful method for the assessment of microstructure, as it provides important microstructural parameters, such as object volume, surface, surface/volume ratio, number of closed pores, and others. X-ray computed microtomography is a non-destructive technique that enables the reuse of samples already measured and also yields bidimensional (2D) cross-sectional images of the sample as well as volume rendering. In this paper, six different maize hybrid genotypes are used as materials, and the BR of the maize kernels of each variety is tested in the field mechanical grain harvesting, and the BR is used as an index for evaluating the breakage resistance of the variety. The crack characteristic parameters of kernel were detected by X-ray micro-computed tomography, and the relationship between the BR and the kernel crack characteristics was analyzed by stepwise regression analysis. Establishing a relationship between crack characteristic parameters and BR of maize is vital for judging breakage resistance. The results of stepwise multiple linear regression (MLR) showed that the crack characteristics of the object surface, number of closed pores, surface of closed pores, and closed porosity percent were significantly correlated to the BR of field mechanical grain harvesting, with the standard partial regression coefficients of −0.998, −0.988, −0.999, and −0.998, respectively. The R2 of this model was 0.999. Results validation showed that the Stepwise MLR Model could well predict the BR of maize based on these four variables.

Abstract Background High grain breakage rate is the main limiting factor encountered in the mechanical harvest of maize grain. X-ray micro-computed tomography (μCT) scanning technology could be used to obtain the three-dimensional structure of maize grain. Currently, the effect of maize grain structure on the grain breakage rate, determined using X-ray μCT scanning technology, has not been reported. Therefore, the objectives of this study are: (i) to obtain the shape, geometry, and structural parameters related to the breakage rate using X-ray μCT scanning technology; (ii) to explore relationships between these parameters and grain breakage rate. Result In this study, 28 parameters were determined using X-ray μCT scanning technology. The maize breakage rate was mainly influenced by the grain specific surface area, subcutaneous cavity volume, sphericity, and density. In particular, the breakage rate was directly affected by the subcutaneous cavity volume and density. The maize variety with high density and low subcutaneous cavity volume had a low breakage rate. The specific surface area (r = 0.758*), embryo specific surface area (r = 0.927**), subcutaneous cavity volume ratio (0.581*), and subcutaneous cavity volume (0.589*) of maize grain significantly and positively correlated with breakage rate. The cavity specific surface area (− 0.628*) and grain density (− 0.934**) of maize grain significantly and negatively correlated with grain breakage rates. Grain shape (length, width, thickness, and aspect ratio) positively correlated with grain breakage rate but the correlation did not reach statistical significance. The susceptibility of grain breakage increased when kernel weight decreased (− 0.371), but the effect was not significant. Conclusions The results indicate that X-ray μCT scanning technology could be effectively used to evaluate maize grain breakage rate. X-ray μCT scanning technology provided a more precise and comprehensive acquisition method to evaluate the shape, geometry, and structure of maize grain. Thus, data gained by X-ray μCT can be used as a guideline for breeding resistant breakage maize varieties. Grain density and subcutaneous cavity volume are two of the most important factors affecting grain breakage rate. Grain density, in particular, plays a vital role in grain breakage and this parameter can be used to predict the breakage rate of maize varieties.

Coir fibre is a non-conventional fibre extracted from the husk of coconut fruit and is abundantly available in tropical countries. Coir yarn is produced in the decentralised cottage industry. Increase in the demand for the coir fibre yarns for value-added applications has forced the coir yarn manufacturers to improve the existing coir spinning machine in different ways. In this study, the working principle of the existing coir spinning machine has been studied from the perspective of further improvements in production rate, yarn quality and spinning performance. Modifications have been made in the existing coir spinning machine in fibre feeding, opening and cleaning. There is improvement in the production rate of up to 20% with significant improvements in the yarn quality and spinning performance.

In order to boost the performance of a bivariable granular fertilizer applicator and simplify the control methodology of fertilization rate regulation, this paper proposed a fertilization decision method to obtain the optimal combination of rotational speed and opening length by selecting the accuracy, uniformity, adjustment time, and breakage rate as the optimization objectives. We processed the outlier data collected using the indoor bench test, segmented the data with the fertilization growth rate as the index, and proved the rationality of the data segmentation by an independent sample t-test. SVM, BPNN, ELM, and RVM were used to train the two data sections to create the fertilization rate prediction model, and the models with the highest accuracy in the two data sections were selected for the assembly of the final prediction model used to describe the fertilization process of the bivariate fertilizer applicator. Moreover, the fertilization performance problem model was established with the objectives of accuracy, uniformity, adjustment time, and breakage rate and was solved using the NSGA-III algorithm to gain an optimal fertilization decision. Compared with GA and MOEA-D-DE methods, the results show that, using the new method, the average relative error declines from 8.64% and 6.05% to 3.09%, and the average coefficient of variation reduces from 6.67% and 6.81% to 6.41%, respectively. In addition, the adjustment time lowers from 2.01 s and 1.33 s to 0.78 s, and the average breakage rate drops from 1.084% and 0.845% to 0.803%, respectively. It is indicated that the presented method offers the most notable improvements in accuracy and adjustment time, while the advancements in regard to uniformity and breakage rate is slight, but both are within a reasonable range.

Copyright of Industria Textila is the property of Institutul National de Cercetare-Dezvoltare pentru Textile si Pielarie and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Food & Machinery is the property of Food & Machinery Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Automatic evisceration is a very important production technology in the chicken industry In this study, an automatic chicken eviscerating robot system was developed and evaluatec based on machine vision for locating the chicken carcasses and anal incision. This systerr consisted of chicken carcass conveying device, robotic manipulator, end-effector, contro system and machine vision system. Based on machine vision, this system employed coloi space conversion, threshold segmentation, morphological operation method and active contour algorithm to obtain the chicken carcass images of the removed wings and legs Subsequently, anal incision contour was extracted and its position was detected by ths maximum inscribed circle algorithm. All the algorithms were implemented in the systen for recognizing the individual carcass and automatically locating the targets ot differen sizes, which guided the manipulator to complete the evisceration. Present results indicatec that the maximum location deviation of contour centroid of chicken carcass and anal inci sion was 5 and 4 pixels, respectively, while the average time of image processing was 954 ms Then the eviscerating manipulator could accurately grasp the viscera, the residual rate anc the breakage rate of viscera were 6.2% and 15%, respectively. The high accuracy obtainec from the evaluation results shows that the machine vision system can be applied success fully to robotic evisceration in the processing of chicken. Hence, the development of thf method for the eviscerating robot is necessary and significant, in particular for providing great foundation for robotic evisceration in poultry industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The caving zone in goaf can be regarded as a porous medium consisting of broken coal and a rock mass. During the compaction process of broken coal and a rock mass in a caving zone, the re-breakage of the rock and coal affects the compaction stress and pore characteristics of the caving zone. In this study, a discrete element numerical simulation of a broken coal sample based on the bonded particle model (BPM) was carried out to study the evolution characteristics of stress, strain, and breakage during its compaction. The grading equation of the minimum particle size during the simulation process is given based on a laboratory test. This equation can reduce the effect of the sub-particles, which cannot be further broken through the BPM. The stress–strain curve of the BPM during compaction can be divided into two stages using maximum vertical strain, εm, and the stress calculation model of these two stages is given. In first stage, there was no effect of the particle strength on εm. Here, εm of the BPM was equal to the porosity of the BPM minus the initial porosity of the broken particles. The average slope of a straight-line section after εm was proportional to the elastic modulus of the coal samples with a ratio of 1.0892. In addition, the particle breakage rate, Bs, and its calculation model were proposed to describe the breakage of the BPM during the compaction process. The evolution characteristics of particle breakage and its correlation with the stress, strain, and particle location are illustrated. The breakage rate of the model increased with increase in strain in an S-shape function. When strain was greater than εm, the particles had difficulty breaking again, and the breakage rates of soft coal, medium coal, and hard coal were 96.05%, 87.21%, and 87.78%, respectively. Under the same stress conditions, the breakage rate of soft coal was clearly higher than that of hard coal. The breakage rate increased the fastest when stress was equal to the tensile strength of the coal sample during the compaction process of the BPM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: High grain breakage rate is the main limiting factor encountered in the mechanical harvest of maize grain. X-ray micro-computed tomography (μCT) scanning technology could be used to obtain the three-dimensional structure of maize grain. Currently, the effect of maize grain structure on the grain breakage rate, determined using X-ray μCT scanning technology, has not been reported. Therefore, the objectives of this study are: (i) to obtain the shape, geometry, and structural parameters related to the breakage rate using X-ray μCT scanning technology; (ii) to explore relationships between these parameters and grain breakage rate. Result: In this study, 28 parameters were determined using X-ray μCT scanning technology. The maize breakage rate was mainly influenced by the grain specific surface area, subcutaneous cavity volume, sphericity, and density. In particular, the breakage rate was directly affected by the subcutaneous cavity volume and density. The maize variety with high density and low subcutaneous cavity volume had a low breakage rate. The specific surface area (r = 0.758*), embryo specific surface area (r = 0.927**), subcutaneous cavity volume ratio (0.581*), and subcutaneous cavity volume (0.589*) of maize grain significantly and positively correlated with breakage rate. The cavity specific surface area (− 0.628*) and grain density (− 0.934**) of maize grain significantly and negatively correlated with grain breakage rates. Grain shape (length, width, thickness, and aspect ratio) positively correlated with grain breakage rate but the correlation did not reach statistical significance. The susceptibility of grain breakage increased when kernel weight decreased (− 0.371), but the effect was not significant. Conclusions: The results indicate that X-ray μCT scanning technology could be effectively used to evaluate maize grain breakage rate. X-ray μCT scanning technology provided a more precise and comprehensive acquisition method to evaluate the shape, geometry, and structure of maize grain. Thus, data gained by X-ray μCT can be used as a guideline for breeding resistant breakage maize varieties. Grain density and subcutaneous cavity volume are two of the most important factors affecting grain breakage rate. Grain density, in particular, plays a vital role in grain breakage and this parameter can be used to predict the breakage rate of maize varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Solid concentration was a determinant for comparing wet and dry grinding kinetics. • Both abrasion and disintegrative fracture behaviors made particles rounded. • Differences in shape and roughness between dry and wet grinding were evaluated. • Particles with irregular shape and smooth surfaces presented shorter induction times. This study explored the influence of wet and dry grinding conditions on breakage rate, shape factor and surface roughness of ground particles, induction time (the threshold for particle–bubble attachment to occur), and flotation recovery. The experimental results indicated that the dry grinding breakage rate was much higher than the wet grinding one. The first-order region was limited to a relatively short grinding time, where it was considered that little or no secondary breakage occurred. With the increasing time, the dry grinding breakage rate increased, while it decreased for wet grinding (solid concentration of 70 vol.%). The differences in shape factor and surface roughness of the wet- and dry-ground samples were attributed to different breakage mechanisms and grinding energy amounts generated by those two types of procedures. The wet-ground particles were characterized by more irregular shape factors and smoother surfaces, and thus presented shorter induction times and higher floatation recoveries compared to the dry-ground ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Cotton Textile Technology is the property of Cotton Textile Technology Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Mixture breakage of particles in various sizes is common in industrial mills, and breakage behavior is influenced by size composition. But studies on particle breakage are conducted to narrowly sized samples. In this paper, tentative works are made to investigate interaction among super clean coal in mixture breakage from aspects of breakage rate, energy consumed characteristics and energy split factors. Experimental results demonstrate that breakage rate of coarse particles in mixture breakage increases if compared with that in single breakage. Particle size is modelled into classical breakage equation, and the modified model is successfully applied to mixture breakage. Energy split factor of component is determined based on the balance of specific energies of components in heterogeneous breakage and energy-size equation, and consumed energy (W) of component in multi-component grinding is calculated. Calculated energy split factors of components are all above one in various mixed conditions, so energy efficiency (value of product t 10 at the same specific energy) decreases if compared with that of single breakage. Energy split analyses are also conducted for mixture breakage of middling coals, which illustrates that the method is robustness for energy-size reduction process influenced by associated minerals in coal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under an invariant and self-similar mill environment, batch wet grinding studies were carried out by grinding mono-sized fractions of quartz, chlorite and their binary mixture at different blending ratios. The results obtained indicate that the breakage behavior of both minerals as well as their mixture followed a first-order model. The maximum breakage rate, S max , for quartz and chlorite, obtained in the feed size fraction of − 0.5 + 0.25 mm, were 0.19 min − 1 and 0.33 min − 1 , respectively. It was also found that the breakage rate S i of quartz or chlorite had a linear relationship with its mass ratio in the binary mix. The cumulative breakage distribution value, B ij of quartz was independent of the absence or presence of chlorite in the quartz-chlorite binary mix. However, the presence of quartz led to a reduced cumulative breakage distribution value for chlorite. In the mixture, the calculated energy split factors for the quartz and chlorite components were found to be greater than one and less than one, respectively. These results seem to suggest that the quartz particles required more energy in order to break and were the rate determining component in the breakage process of a mixture. In addition, the simulated product size distribution data obtained, using the discrete-size, continuous-time Population Balance Model (PBM), were consistent with experimental data for quartz-chlorite binary mineral system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is known that ball milling is an energy intensive process and great efforts have been made over the years to improve energy efficiency. The use of population balance models (PBMs) can assist in the design of mineral processing circuits and the scale-up of laboratory mill results to full-scale. However, since each model has its own capabilities and limitations, it is believed that a combined use will provide more accurate information for the reliable description of the process. In this study, the simulation of grinding of quartz is investigated in order to identify the optimal mill operating parameters. With the use of population balance modeling the specific rate of breakage and the cumulative breakage parameters can be determined from mono-size, short grinding time batch tests. The determined breakage parameters were back calculated by minimizing the residual error between experimental and reproduced size distributions. By combining two software packages the back calculated breakage parameters were used for the prediction of the optimum ball filling volume. The proposed procedure can be also applied for the identification of optimal mill operating parameters for other minerals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to establish a mathematical model to evaluate the unequal-probability comminution of minerals during the grinding process. The effect of the grinding time, the grinding media filling rate, and the powder filling rate on the grinding of lithium ore in a lab scale ball mill was investigated. The results show that the grinding process of lithium ore is highly consistent with the non-first grinding kinetic equation, while the breakage rate decreases with the reduction of the particle size. The heterogeneity of the feed, which is then confirmed by difference in elemental content of each size interval of the grinding product, is the mainly responsible for the non-first order breakage. Hence, the change of the content of the Li, Na, and K-bearing mineral for each size interval can be characterized by the change of the characteristic element content. It found that that the Li-bearing mineral retains particles with a larger size, while the Na and K -bearing minerals, which tend to break, retains particles with a smaller size during the grinding process. With the increase in the grinding time, the difference in the relative change of the cumulative grade oversize between Li and Na, K is increased gradually. The opposite effect can be found for both the grinding media filling rate and the powder filling rate, whose difference decreased as the amount of the grinding media and the material increase during the grinding process. [Display omitted] • A mathematical model is established to evaluate the unequal-probability comminution of minerals. • The breakage behavior of lithium ore follows the non-first order breakage kinetics. • The heterogeneity of lithium ore is one of the main reasons responsible for the non-first order breakage kinetics. • Li-bearing minerals prefer to retain in the coarse particles during the grinding process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to solve the problem of breakage rate formula's poor practical utility in ball mills, the affect of the property of particles and the collision energy distribution to breakage rate was analyzed. A discrete element method of breakage rate formula based on ball mills' impact grinding model was presented. The collision energy distribution was obtained through DEM simulation and the parameters in breakage rate formula was determined. Then the breakage formula under the experimental condition was obtained. The results show that the breakage rate from the derived formula fits well with the one from empirical formula. The derived breakage rate formula provides an effective method of more accurately quantitative description of grinding process in a ball mill. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]