Browsing by Author "Aluko, O. B."

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    Development and Preliminary Testing of Metering Equipment for Mechanized Yam Sett Planting
    (JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (JAET) EDITORIAL BOARD, 2005) Aluko, O. B.; Koya, Olufemi A.
    This paper reports the design and laboratory testing of equipment for metering yam setts, as a precursory step in the development of a mechanical yam sett planter. The metering equipment was designed to discharge a yam sett at every 1000 mm of within-row spacing using a ground-wheel drive system. Yam setts flow by gravity from a hopper into a metering drum having an internal helical screw and lift flaps, which discharge the yam setts for planting. Laboratory tests of the prototype gave a metering efficiency of 82.2% with percentages of singles, multiples and skips being 80.5%, 0.2% and 17.7%, respectively. The theoretical field capacity is 0.2 to 0.4 ha h-1 at planting speeds of 2.7 to 5.0 km h-1. The work provides a basis for the future development of a mechanical yam sett planter.
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    Some engineering properties of yam setts from two species of yamsSome engineering properties of yam setts from two species of yams
    (Elsevier, 2006-10-01) Aluko, O. B.; Koya, Olufemi A.
    Yam production is still mainly carried out manually by peasant farmers using yam setts as planting material. Adequate knowledge of their engineering properties is an essential prerequisite for the scientific design and development of equipment for planting and handling yam setts mechanically. Some engineering properties of yam setts from two species of yams, namely white yam (D. rotundata) and yellow yam (D. cayenensis), were investigated at different moisture contents. The properties investigated include sett density, static coefficient of friction on plywood, galvanized steel and formica surfaces, force–deformation behaviour during quasistatic radial compression, stiffness moduli and sett toughness. The coefficient of friction of yam setts of both species on formica was considerably lower than the corresponding coefficients on wood and galvanized steel, respectively. The results further showed that a considerable reduction in the coefficient of friction was achieved (0.41–0.29 and 0.45–0.25 on formica, for D. rotundata and D. cayenensis, respectively) by air-drying freshly prepared setts at ambient room temperature for at least 4 days. Sett density over the drying period ranged between 1020 and 1180 kgm3 for D. rotundata and between 1030 and 1140 kgm3 for D. cayenensis. The stiffness moduli were 3.53 and 5.36 kNm1 for freshly prepared yam setts of D. rotundata and D. cayenensis, respectively. However, sett stiffness generally decreased as sett moisture content decreased. The toughness of freshly prepared yam setts initially increased, attaining a maximum value within the first 4 days of air-drying, and subsequently decreased with further sett drying. 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.