Investigation of Physical and Frictional Properties of Mustard Seed Varieties to Design inclined Plate Metering Mechanism

The physical and frictional properties were studied for three distinct mustard seed varieties: RLC-1, GSC-7, and PBR-91, with the primary objective of designing an efficient inclined plate seed metering mechanism for agricultural seeders. Mustard, a globally significant oilseed crop, plays a vital role in both agriculture and industry. Our comprehensive analysis encompassed various properties, including seed dimensions, test weight (1000 seed), moisture content, geometric mean diameters, surface area, bulk density, true density, sphericity, angle of repose, and coefficients of friction on plywood and GI sheet surfaces.

The results revealed significant variations among the mustard seed varieties. For instance, RLC-1 seeds exhibited lengths of 4.029 ± 0.37 mm, widths of 2.210 ± 0.31 mm, and thicknesses of 0.851 ± 0.19 mm, whereas GSC-7 displayed lengths of 4.110 ± 0.42 mm, widths of 2.300 ± 0.35 mm, and thicknesses of 0.910 ± 0.24 mm. Additionally, GI sheet surfaces exhibited a lower coefficient of friction compared to plywood.

This comprehensive dataset informs the design of tailored seed metering mechanisms, optimizing seed handling, minimizing damage and losses, and reducing blockage during seeding operations, thereby enhancing overall efficiency in mustard crop cultivation and seeding technology.