Research Article | OPEN ACCESS
Design of a Cassava Uprooting Device
A.S. Akinwonmi and F. Andoh
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa, Ghana
Research Journal of Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology 2013 2:411-420
Received: May 03, 2012 | Accepted: June 08, 2012 | Published: January 11, 2013
Abstract
This study analyses the design of a simple, efficient, cheap and affordable cassava uprooting device for local cassava growing farmers. Processes involved in uprooting cassava were found out from local farmers, studied and mechanized using bevel gears, cams and followers, chain and sprockets. The principle of moments was used as a basis for the design. The effort applied by the foot of the operator is significantly magnified to overcome the load (cassava in the ground) at the extreme end of the device .The free body diagram of the frame helped to determine the average force needed to press the pedal by the foot. From the analysis, a little effort of 334.49 N can overcome about 2000 N of force and this gives a mechanical advantage of about 6. The bending moment diagram and the shear force diagrams helped to determine the part of the device which is subjected to greater force and where shear and bending can easily take place. Mild steel is used as the material for the device because it is cheap and easily available. Advantages of this design include faster uprooting with high productivity, less energy expended, reduction in the risk of health hazards of developing blisters in the palms, callus palms, arched spinal cord and waste pains over time.
Keywords:
Bending moment, bevel gears, cassava, effort, mechanical advantage, shear force,
Competing interests
The authors have no competing interests.
Open Access Policy
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
Copyright
The authors have no competing interests.
|
|
![](http://www.maxwellsci.com/images/RJASET-maxw.jpg) |
ISSN (Online): 2040-7467
ISSN (Print): 2040-7459 |
![Submit Manuscript](../images/sub.jpg) |
Information |
|
|
|
Sales & Services |
|
|
|