Effects of moisture content and loading orientation on some mechanical behavior of Irvingia wombolu nut

Abstract

<abstract> <bold>Abstract.</bold> Cracking irvingia wombulu nut is one of the biggest challenges in its processing which is not yet mechanized. Kernel extraction from the irvingia nut is still being carried out by the use of hammer, stone or matchet to split the nut. This process is injurious, labour intensive, promotes drudgery and results in a lot of kernel breakages. The knowledge of mechanical properties of irvingia wombolu nuts is essential to design cracking device to extract the kernel without much breakage. The effects of moisture content and loading orientation on some mechanical behavior of Irvingia wombolu nuts obtained from Rivers State, Nigeria, was carried out under compressive loading using tensiometer at 28⁰C and speed of 20 mm/min. Four moisture contents (12, 20, 29, and 36% wb) and two orientations (axial and longitudinal) were used for the study. The results showed that compression force, deformation energy and unit volume energy increased with increasing moisture content for both transverse and longitudinal loadings. The effect of moisture content and loading orientations on compression force and deformation energy were statistically significant (P<0.05). Hence, more energy will be required to crack irvingia wombolu nut transversely than longitudinal loading.