Finite Design for Critical Stresses of Compressed Biomaterials under Transportation

This paper focuses on the evaluation of critical stresses of biomaterials of spherical shape under radial and axial compression employing Hertz contact theory and finite element method. The mechanical properties of UTC tomatoes were determined with a compression test rig for radial and axial compression contacts with metal plate. The maximum contact pressure Pmax was evaluated as 0.063MPa while the maximum shear stress was 0.022MPa. The finite element analysis gave the von mises stresses for axial and radial contacts as 0.001699MPa and 0.012271MPa. The design yield stress was predicted for UTC tomatoes and specified as 0.0012MPa for UTC containers design for transportation. The results of this study will therefore be relevant in the design of transportation for fruits of spherical shape