Physical-Mechanical Properties of Banana Bunches as an Object of Aerial Cable Transportation

Abstract

The objective of this work is to determine the physical-mechanical properties of banana bunches as an object of their transportation in aerial cable and the parameters required for the design of a transport system of banana bunches in mountainous areas of Trujillo State, Venezuela. A descriptive analysis of all the samples was carried out for the properties studied, obtaining the arithmetic mean and the dispersion measurements (standard deviation and coefficient of variation), as well as a variance analysis, determining the p-value and an analysis of simple and multiple regression. The results obtained show that the arithmetic mean obtained for the diameter of the rachis was 5,41 cm, with a standard deviation of ± 0,77 cm; the length of the clusters 63,96 cm, with a standard deviation of ± 14,92 cm and the diameter of the bunches amounted to 33,67 cm, with a standard deviation of ± 2,69 cm. Furthermore, the mass of the bunches obtained amounted to 16,58 kg, with a standard deviation of ± 4,91 kg, the Xc and Yc coordinates, obtained from the center of mass of the clusters reached 16,73 and 28,84 cm, with a standard deviation of ± 1,37 and 3,78 cm, respectively. In addition, the moment of inertia amounted to 0,13 kg m2 with a standard deviation of ± 0,11 kg m2. The best adjusted model of the relationship between the moment of inertia and the mass of banana clusters was the Box-Cox Method with an R2 of 86, 65%. Regarding the relationship with the bunch diameter, the model that was best adjusted was the Polynomial with an R2 of 88, 7%.