Comparison on Mechanical Properties of Fruit Tree Branches

Mechanical characteristics of mulberry, peach and cherry branches were tested and analyzed to evaluate adaptability of existing typical fruit branch shredders to mulberry, peach and cherry branches．Experimental research was conducted on measuring stretch force, shear force and compressive strength of three kinds of branches with different diameters in winter pruning period．Influence of diameter and variety on mechanical characteristic was determined．Results showed that stretch force per unit diameter, shear force per unit diameter and axial compression strength of three branches increased with sample diameter．Under certain moisture content and diameter conditions, mulberry branches had the largest stretch force per unit diameter（164.36 N/mm）, shear force per unit diameter（105.74 N/mm）and axial compression strength（6.45 MPa）, followed by peach branches and cherry branches．The research could provide theoretical basis and technical parameters for determining cutting force, cutting blade and cutting mode required for cutting various branches, and has important guiding significance for design and selection of low energy consumption and high efficiency fruit tree branch shredder．