Selected Mechanical and Geometric Properties of Different Almond Cultivars

Figures & data

Figure 1 Example of experimental force-deformation curve of almond nut in the study.

Figure 2 Representation of the three axial forces (F_x , F_y , and F_z axial forces) and three perpendicular dimensions of almond nut.

Table 1 Some geometric properties of almond cultivars.*

NUT	Nonpareil	Picantili	Drake
Length (mm)	27.11 ± 0.28	31.26 ± 1.62	27.09 ± 0.67
Width(mm)	18.90 ± 0.22	19.26 ± 1.70	18.53 ± 0.43
Thickness (mm)	14.13 ± 0.14	11.51 ± 2.18	13.38 ± 0.35
Geometric mean diameter (mm)	19.28 ± 0.83	18.95 ± 2.64	18.76 ± 1.09
Unit mass (g)	2.30 ± 0.07	2.77 ± 0.27	2.00 ± 0.01
Sphericity (%)	71.13 ± 1.65	60.45 ± 3.83	69.36 ± 4.27
Shell thickness (mm)	1.94 ± 0.05	2.31 ± 0.20	1.89 ± 0.04
Surface area (cm^2)	0.61 ± 0.03	0.60 ± 0.08	0.59 ± 0.03
Volume (cm^3)	3.81 ± 0.52	3.80 ± 1.45	3.52 ± 0.60
KERNEL
Length (mm)	20.59 ± 0.09	25.78 ± 0.62	20.09 ± 0.53
Width(mm)	11.27 ± 0.09	13.43 ± 0.35	11.24 ± 0.23
Thickness (mm)	8.49 ± 0.06	7.29 ± 0.08	8.15 ± 0.14
Geometric mean diameter (mm)	12.50 ± 0.35	13.57 ± 0.72	12.20 ± 0.52
Unit mass (g)	0.89 ± 0.04	1.07 ± 0.01	0.81 ± 0.06
Sphericity (%)	60.77 ± 2.29	52.72 ± 1.88	60.83 ± 1.66
Surface area (cm^2)	0.39 ± 0.01	0.43 ± 0.02	0.38 ± 0.016
Volume (cm^3)	1.03 ± 0.09	1.33 ± 0.21	0.96 ± 0.12
* Measurements were made with 10 replicates, numbers following ± are standard deviations.

Figure 3 Effects of cultivar, compression axis and speed on rupture force of almond nut (N).

Figure 4 Effects of cultivar, compression axis and speed on specific deformation ϵ (%)of almond nut.

Figure 5 Effects of cultivar, compression axis and speed on absorbed energy E_a (mJ) of almond nut.

Figure 6 Effects of cultivar, compression axis and speed on required power for cracking P (W) of almond nut.