Determination of Some Physical and Rheological Properties of Straw and Alfalfa Bales During Double Compressing

To reduce storage space and transportation cost for alfalfa and straw bales, recompressing of the bales is recommended. In order to design different units and elements of double compressing device, some physical and rheological properties of desired products were determined. A factorial experiment with a randomized complete block design with three replications was used during the tests. Confined compression tests for three levels of axial strain (25, 35 and 45% of initial length) on alfalfa and straw bales were performed. In this study, the influence of the materials and strain on pressure, modulus of elasticity and required energy were investigated. The results showed that the effect of materials type and strain levels on the determined parameters were highly significant (P<0.01). The highest value of the measured parameter was obtained for straw bales at 45% strain. The Fabroad’s model (expressing the relationship between pressure and density) and two other models, namely, Sitki and Osbof which were used to describe the relationship between modulus of elasticity and density were fitted to the measured values, and then constants were determined for each model individually. The coefficients of friction for alfalfa and straw bales on steel and galvanized surfaces at three levels of perpendicular loads were determined. Effect of bales and surface types on frictional coefficient were not significant (P< 0.05), however, the effect of perpendicular load was highly significant (P<0.01). Tensile strength of hemp and nylon ropes, which are usually used to knot compressed bales, was measured. The results indicated that hemp ropes had more strength than nylon.