Proc. Int. Soc. Sugar Cane Technol.

, 24: 215-219

2001

THE EFFECT OF FIBRE AND SOIL CONTENT ON SHEAR AND FRICTION

COEFFICIENTS OF SUGARCANE BAGASSE
BY

A.C. de 0. FERRAZ1 and M . de A. PIEROSS12

Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas-SP-Brasil
2Centr~de Tecnologia Copersucaq Piracicaba-SP-Brasil

Abstract
Friction and shear coefficients constitute important parameters that contribute to characterise
sugarcane bagasse for juice extraction purposes. A shear box was designed to investigate the effect
of soil content on the values of these parameters for pressures up to 0.6 MPa, for two widely grown
sugarcane varieties in Brazil. Both varieties, RB72454 and SP80-1842, showed the same mean value
of 0.41 for the coefficient of shear. Soil content did not affect these values. Mean value of the
coefficient of friction between the bagasse and a smooth steel surface was 0.39 for variety RB72454
and 0.34 for variety SP80-1842, Increasing values of the coefficient of friction were obtained as soil
content increased, reaching 0.40 for both varieties at 2% soil content. Further tests are suggested for
higher compression pressures.

Introduction
Efficiency of juice extraction in sugarcane mills is
a topic of continuous interest in the sugar industry
(Kuebler and Jones, 1988; Owen et al., 1994). Mill
feeding is an important part of the process since it
increases feeding velocities and compresses the
bagasse to a higher initial pressure, important to
improve extraction efficiency. The interaction
between the prepared cane and the surface of the
rollers is mainly determined by two parameters, the
coefficients of friction and shear. The friction coefficient depends on the type of material and surface
finish. It determines the interaction between the roller
surface and bagasse during compression. The shear
coefficient expresses how bagasse particles interact
internally with each other when subjected to shearing
action. Both coefficients are related since the
maximum shearing force limits the maximum friction
force that can be obtained during feeding (Plaza and
Edwards, 1994). ,.
Several studies have been conducted concerning
these two parameters in search of better understanding of excessive wear and the necessary grip of
the roller surface, including the development of
mathematical models (Plaza and Kent, 1997). Plaza
and Kent (1997) also utilised the Mohr-Coulomb
failure criterion used for soils.
The main objective of this study was to determine
surface and shear coefficients for the Brazilian sugar
cane varieties RB72454 (12.2% fibre) and SP80-1842
(13.3% fibre) and to investigate the effect of soil
content on these parameters. A shear device was
specially designed and details of the methodology
are given.

Materials and methods

Stalks of sugarcane varieties RB72454 (12.2%
fibre) and SP80-1842 (13.3% fibre), were harvested

and prepared on the same day as the experiments.

Preparation consisted of comminuting the stalks
using a chopper. Part of the prepared cane was
thoroughly mixed with typical clay soil from the field
at 0.5% and 2.0%, on a weight basis.

Shearing device
A shearing box with a total internal volume of
1.5 x lo6 mm3 was designed and constructed using
mild steel (Figure 1). The rectilinear movement of the
lower car is performed through the rolling of low
friction bearings, used as wheels, in the guiding
channels. The upper car and the base constitute the
static components of the device and both are fixed on
the steel structure of a 20 t hydraulic press. The same
device, slightly modified, was used to measure
surface friction by inserting a small table into the
lower car. The table surface was leveled to the top
surface of the car's walls.

SECTION A-A

SIDE VIEW

Fig. 1-Schematic representation of the shear device.

A. base; B. lower car; C. upper car; D. hydraulic press head;
E. compression load cell; F. compression plate;
G , low-friction bearings; H. bagasse column;
I. guiding channels.

KEYWORDS: Friction; Shear; Juice Extraction, Bagasse, Cane Fibre, Dirt.

215

Ferraz, A.C. de 8.and Pierossi, M. de A., Proc, Int. so=. Sugar Cane Technol., 24: 215-219

Experimental setup
~ 2)
An illustration of the complete setup (
features the anchoring brackets, compression plate,
two load cells (5 t and 1 t, Interface Load Cells, SP,
Brazil), connecting cable, hydraulic press head,
frictionless wheels, testing machine (Ottawa Texture
Measurement System, Ottawa, Canada) and
hydraulic press structure. The bagasse was compressed though the load cell placed on top of the
bagasse column using an auxiliary steel plate to
evenly distribute the pressure over the exposed area
of the bagasse column. The compression force was
applied using a manually operated hydraulic press. A
second load cell was attached to the head of the
testing machine to measure friction forces. Both load
cells were connected to a signal conditioner and
data acquisition system (Spider-8, HBM-Hottinger
Baldwin Messtechnick). Data were collected at 5 Hz.

Testing procedures
For the coefficient of shear measurements, both
cars were loaded with prepared cane. Several loadings
were necessary to fill the cars and to obtain a reasonably dense column of bagasse so it could undergo
some pressure without much deformation. Each partial
loading was characterised by evenly spreading the
bagasse in the cars followed by slight compression, not
exceeding 4000 N. No juice was removed from the
bagasse in this preparatory stage. As the bagasse
column was ready, a compression force was gradually
applied until it reached 4500-5000 N. The test
machine was then turned, on pulling the lower car with
constant speed of 0.17 mmls (10 mmlmin). When a
displacement of three to four millimeters was observed
the test was interrupted.
A similar procedure was conducted to evaluate
surface friction. A small steel table was put inside the
lower car, providing a sliding surface with milling
finish for the bagasse. In this case, the bagasse
column was half the height used in previous procedures for the coefficient of shear.
Both coefficients were determined for prepared
cane with 0%, 0.5% and 2% of soil content. For each

2001

of these treatments, five replications were performed.

Analysis
of variance
and
~
~
~
~ mean comparison using
Duncan's Multiple Range Test were used to analyse
the data (SANEST, Statistical Software).

Results and discussion

General comments
The designed apparatus showed itself to be appropriate to measure the coefficients of shear and friction of prepared cane. During the tests, the lower car
showed a smooth movement and no tendency to
deviate from the straight path provided by the guided
channels. The maximum force values achieved in all
tests did not exceed 5000 N, corresponding to an
assumed uniformly distributed pressure of 0.52 MPa
on the bagasse column. Even though this pressure
level is relatively low, compared to 20 MPa that
occurs during actual compression in the mill, it corresponds to the initial stage of the extraction process.

of compression and frictionAforce to calculate the

coefficient. However, since the inflection point was
not easy to identify, two tangent lines representing
the two slopes were drawn and the intersection point
was taken as the measurement point for both forces
(Figure 3). As a result, the mean value of the shear
coefficient obtained for variety RB72454 was 0.41
(SD = 0.07, CV = 0.17). The mean values obtained
for 0.5% and 2% soil content were 0.44 (SD = 0.02;
CV = 0.05) and 0.42 (SD = 0.03; CV = 0.07), respectively. Variety SP80-1842 showed values of 0.41
(SD = 0.02; CV = 0.05), 0.41 (SD = 0.02;
CV = 0.05) and 0.42 (SD = 0.04; CV = 0.10) for 0%,
0.5% and 2% soil contents, respectively (Table 1).
Neither variety nor soil content had an effect on the
mean values of the coefficient of shear for sugarcane
bagasse at the pressure tested (Duncan's Test,
P<0.05).
Coefficient of friction
Typical compression and friction force curves
obtained during the tests (Figure 4) show corresponding peaks and valleys as the lower car was
pulled. As the bagasse column relaxes, traction force
showed similar decay tendency. Measurements were

Ferraz, A.C. de 0. and Pierossi, M. de A., Proc. Int. Soc. Sugar Cane Technol., 24: 215-219

2001

time (s)
Fig. 3-Typical

compression and friction forces obtained during shearing tests of prepared cane. The intersection of the auxiliary
tangent lines determines the compression and friction forces values.

Table 1-Coefficient

of shear for bagasse for two sugarcane varieties, three soil contents and five replications.

Variety

Soil content
0%

0.50%

2%

AVG*
SD*
CV*

0.43
0.44
0.29
0.47
0.39
0.41
0.07
0.17

0.43
0.45
0.43
0.42
0.47
0.44
0.02
0.05

0.45
0.42
0.37
0.44
0.45
0.42
0.03
0.07

AVG
SD
CV

0.40
0.43
0.43
0.43
0.38
0.41
0.02
0.05

0.40
0.44
0.42
0.39
0.42
0.41
0.02
0.05

0.46
0.41
0.46
0.42
0.37
0.42
0.04
0.10

RB72454

SP80-1842

'AVG = average; SDa=standard deviation; CV = Coefficient of variation (SDIAVG).

taken at corresponding peaks. The mean value of the

coefficient of friction for variety RB72454 was 0.39
(SD = 0.01, CV = 0.03). For 0.5% and 2% soil
contents, the mean values obtained were 0.38
(SD = 0.01; CV = 0.03) and 0.40 (SD = 0.01;
CV = 0.03), respectively (Table 2). No difference
was observed at the three soil content levels for this
variety (Duncan's Test, P<0.05).
Variety SP80-1842 showed mean values of 0.34
(SD = 0.02; CV = 0.06), 0.38 (SD = 0.01; CV = 0.03)
and 0.40 (SD = 0.01; CV = 0.03) for 0%, 0.5% and
2% soil contents, respectively, which are significantly different from each other (Duncan's Test,
P<0.05). As soil content increased, the mean value of
the coefficient of friction also increased.
Even though variety RB72454 has a lower fibre
content, its average value (0.39) for the coefficient of
friction was higher than the average value (0.38) of

variety SP80-1842 (Duncan's Test, P<0.05). The

coefficient of friction's lowest value (0% soil
content) was 0.34 and the highest 0.40 (2% soil
content).
The majority of the tests showed little variability.
The coefficient of variation was below 0.10 with the
exception of the value of 0.17 for the shear test for
variety RB72454 with 0% soil content.
Ratio of coefficient of friction and coefficient
of shear
The ratio of the average values of the coefficient
of friction and the coefficient of shear for all treatments was between 0.82 and 0.95. As expected, the
coefficient of friction of a smooth mild steel flat surface has to be increased through the addition of
roughness in order to make the ratio equal to one
(Plaza and Edwards, 1994).

Ferraz. A.C. de 0. and Pierossi, M. de A.. Proc. Int. Soc. Suaar Cane Technol.. 24: 215-219

2001

time (s)
Fig. 4-Typical

compression and friction forces obtained during determination

Table 2-Coefficient of friction of bagasse for smooth mild steel surface for two sugarcane varieties, three soil content and five replications.
Variety
RB72454

AVG*
SD*
CW
SP~O-1842

AVG
SD

CV

Soil content
0%

0.5%

2%

0.36
0.38
0.40
0.39
0.39
0.39
0.01
0.03

0.40
0.37
0.39
0.37
0.37
0.38
0.01
0.03

0.41
0.41
0.40
0.38
0.41
0.40
0.01
0.03

0.31
0.33
0.36
0.36
0.36
0.34
0.02
0.06

0.38
0.37
0.38
0.38
0.38
0.38
0.01
0.03

0.41
0.41
0.40
0.38
0.41
0.40
0.01
0.03

*AVG = average; SD = standard deviation; CV = Coefficient of variation (SDIAVG).

Conclusion
The specially designed device proved appropriate
for measuring shear and friction coefficients of sugarcane bagasse for pressures up to 0.52 MPa. Soil
content did not affect the values of the coefficient of
shear for the two sugarcane varieties tested.
However, increasing soil content increased the values
of the coefficient of friction of variety SP80-1842.
Further studies should be conducted at higher
pressures.

Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge Antonio S6rgio Marchi
(Copersucar), Carlos Cascadan (Copersucar) for the
drawings and construction of the shearing device and
Luciano Menegasso (Copersucar) for his help during
the tests. They also thank the Farm Machinery
Department (FEAGRI, UNICAMP, Brazil) for the
use of lab facilities (Mechanical Properties of Biomaterials Lab) and the assistance on instrumentation
through the Instrumentation and Control Lab-LIE.
A special recognition is given to Dr Steven
A. Sargent (University of Florida, Gainesville) for
reviewing the manuscript.

REFERENCES
Kuebler, P.M. and Jones, K.C. (1988). The development and testing of a computer controlled machine for high productivity automated
roller arcing. Proc. Aust. Soc. Sug. Cane Technol., 10: 337-341.
Owen, D.R.J., Zhao, S.Y. and Loughran, J.G. (1994). An overview of crushing theory investigations at Swansea. Part 2-Modeling of
a two Roll Mill. Proc. Aust. Soc. Sug. Cane Technol., 16: 271-78.
Plaza, F. and Edwards, B.P. (1994). Shear, friction, and required roll roughness. Proc. Aust. Soc. Sug. Cane Technol., 16: 24547.
Plaza, F. and Kent, G.A. (1997). Using soil shear tests to investigate mill feeding. Proc. Aust. Soc. Sug. Cane Technol., 19: 331-340.

Ferraz, A.C. de 0. and Pierossi, M. de A., Proc. Int. Soc. Sugar Cane Technol., 24: 215-219

2001

L'EFFET DE LA TENEUR EN FIBRE ET EN TERRE SUR LES COEFFICIENTS

DE FRICTION DE LA BAGASSE
A.C. de 0.FERRAZ1 et M . de A. PIEROSS12
de Campinas, Campinas-SP-Brasil
2Centro de Tecnologia Copersuca< Piracicaba-SP-Brasil

l Universidade Estadual

RCsumC
L'extraction du jus de la canne et de la bagasse est affect6 par les coefficients de friction. On a
Ctudie 1'Cffet de la terre sur la valeur de ces coefficients, pour des pr6ssions allant jusqu'a 0.6 MPa
et avec deux varietCs de canne populaires au BrCsil. Les deux varietCs montrent la mCme valeur de
0.41 pour les coefficients de friction. La teneur en terre n'affecte pas ce chiffre. La valeur lnoyenne
pour le coefficient de friction est 0.39 pour la varietC RB 72454 et 0.34 pour SP180-1842. Ces
chiffres augment avec la teneur en terre, atteignant 0.40, pour les deux varietds avec 2% de terre. On
suggkre des Ctudes pour de prCssions plus hautes.

Mots clefs: Friction, exhaustion, bagasse, canne, fibre, terre.

EFECTO DEL CONTENIDO DE FIBRA Y SUELO EN LOS COEFICIENTES

DE FRICCION Y CIZALLADURA DEL BAGAZO DE C A ~ A
DE AZUCAR
A.C. de 0. FERRAZ1 y M . de A. PIEROSS12
Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas-SP-Brasil
2Centr~de Tecnologia Copersucar, Piracicaba-SP-Brasil

Resumen
Los coeficientes de fricci6n y cizalladura constituyen importantes parfimetros que contribuyen a
caracterizar el bagazo de caiia de az6car para prop6sitos de extracci6n del jugo. Una caja de
cizalladura fue diseiiada para investigar el efecto del contenido de suelo en estos parfimetros bajo
presiones hasta 0.60 MPa. Las pruebas se efectuaron con dos variedades cultivadas ampliamente en
el Brasil. Las dos variedades, RE372454 y SP80-1842, mostraron en promedio el mismo valor de
0.41 para el coeficiente de cizalladura. El contenido de suelo no afect6 estos valores. El valor medio
del coeficiente de friccidn entre el bagazo y una superficie lisa de acero fue 0.39 para la variedad
RB72454 y 0.34 para la variedad SP80-1842. Incrementos en el valor del coeficiente de fricci6n
fueron obtenidos a medida que aumenta el contenido de suelo, alcanzando 0.40 para las dos
variedades con un contenido de suelo de 2%. Se sugiere la realizaci6n de pruebas futuras empleando
mayores presiones.

Palabras claves: Friccibn, cizalladura, extracci6n de jugo, bagazo, fibra de caiia, materia extrafia.

219