Effect of Blade Angles and Thickness on Specific Cutting Energy and Cutting Index of Cassava Stem

Abstract

Cassava harvesting is highly labor intensive and a partially mechanized operation. Development of a separate cassava stem harvester and incorporation with available cassava digger enhance then harvesting efficiency. To optimize the stem harvester design, this study investigated the effect of blade thickness, approach angle and shear angle on specific cutting energy and cutting index. The treatment with 20^o shear angle, 30^o approach angle and 6mm thickness yielded the minimum specific cutting energy and best quality of cut cassava stem respectively.

Keywords: approach angle, shear angle, specific cutting energy, harvesting efficiency