Evaluation of some engineering properties of green almond for mechanical harvesting

Green almonds are a seasonal treat, and mechanical harvesting of green almonds has the potential to increase their consumption while also introducing a new method of reducing almond processing costs and residue. The purpose of this study was to investigate the physical properties and mechanical behavior of green almonds of the Sahand variety. The physical properties measured were length, width, thickness, arithmetic and geometric mean diameters, which averaged 29.73, 20.23, 15.02, 21.66, and 20.81 mm, respectively. Additionally, the surface and projected areas, aspect ratio, sphericity, mass, volume, true density, and porosity were determined to be 1366.77 mm2, 473.59 mm2, 0.68, 0.70, 4.14 g, 3.78 cm3, 1.10 g/cm3, and 0.44. Almost all of the physical properties of green almonds studied were found to be correlated. Green almonds had a static friction coefficient of 0.519, 0.441, and 0.523 on MDF, galvanized iron, and rubber, respectively, and the static friction coefficients on MDF and rubber were not significantly different at the 1% confidence level. A uniaxial compression test was used to investigate the mechanical behavior of green almonds under compression. The tests were conducted in three directions (X, Y, and Z, which correspond to the length, width, and thickness of green almonds, respectively) and at three speeds (10, 15, and 20 mm/min). The results indicated that only direction had a significant effect on the mechanical test results and that green almonds can withstand greater deformation along their length before rapture.