A SIMPLE TEST FOR DETERMINING SOME IMPORTANT MATERIAL PROPERTIES FOR BAGASSE

A simple, rapid uniaxial compression test to determine some material properties for bagasse has been developed. The test simultaneously determines one material parameter for the fibre or solid phase of bagasse and two material parameters for the juice or fluid phase of bagasse. The test is carried out at compression and juice speeds and time frames typical of the milling process, unlike most tests recently conducted for the purpose of determining bagasse material properties. To extract the material parameters from the results of the compression test, a model is required. A relatively simple, onedimensional model has been found adequate for this purpose. The model is used in a parameter estimation process to minimise the difference between experimental and model results. This test method is significant because it replaces the need to carry out separate tests for solid and fluid phase material parameters and provides a consistent set of parameters across several compression tests at different compression speeds. The time to carry out the physical testing of bagasse and the time taken to estimate parameter values from the test results are both significantly shorter.