DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF SPECIAL CUTTING SYSTEM FOR SWEET SORGHUM HARVESTER

• Main Authors: OMID GHAHRAE, M KHOSHTAGHAZA, DESA BIN AHMAD
• Format: Article
• Language: Bulgarian
• Published: University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture 2009-03-01
• Series: Journal of Central European Agriculture
• Subjects: design; development; rotating cutting system; harvester
• Online Access: http://jcea.agr.hr/articles/600_DESIGN_AND_DEVELOPMENT_OF_SPECIAL_CUTTING_SYSTEM_FOR_SWEET_SORGHUM_HARVESTER_en.pdf

Sweet Sorghum is similar to racemose maize with about 3m height and 0.5-3cm thickness of stalk. Sweet Sorghum has sweet flavor stalk, which is used for sugar production. Developed cutting mechanism in this research has a rotary disk with 50 cm diameter and four cutting blades that spin clockwise. The stalks are cut with the impact and inertia forces at the linear velocity of 27 m/s, by cutting blades. This system has a simple bar mechanism guiding the whole-stalk to one side. The cutting quality tests were achieved by two series of blades with 30°and 45° blade angles on the stalk. The results showed that the stalk cutting surface with 30° blade angle was smooth and without fracture on filaments and vasculums, compared to that of 45° blade angle. Blade penetration was accomplished very well with 30° blade angle.