Determination of bruise susceptibility of fresh corn to impact load by means of finite element method simulation.

Collision damage is the most common type of damage that occurs in fresh corn ears at harvest, and this type of damage is difficult to quantify. The objective of this study was to determine the bruise susceptibility of fresh corn ears under various collision scenarios using the finite element method (FEM). Explicit dynamics were used to simulate the characteristics of collision deformation during the harvest of fresh corn ears. The precise external shape of the fresh corn ear was obtained by reverse engineering and the material properties of the fresh corn kernels and cob were determined using compression tests to build a finite element model of the fresh corn ear as a two-layer material. Data and deformation images were obtained by running collision simulations using three common impact contact surfaces (steel, neoprene, and PVC), three impact heights (0.6m, 1.2m, and 1.8m), and three impact angles (-30°, 0°, and 30°) were...