Mechanical properties and energy absorption characteristics of tropical fruit durian (Durio zibethinus)

Ngoc San Ha; Guoxing Lu; DongWei Shu; T X Yu

doi:10.1016/j.jmbbm.2019.103603

Mechanical properties and energy absorption characteristics of tropical fruit durian (Durio zibethinus)

J Mech Behav Biomed Mater. 2020 Apr:104:103603. doi: 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2019.103603. Epub 2019 Dec 23.

Authors

Ngoc San Ha¹, Guoxing Lu², DongWei Shu³, T X Yu⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mechanical and Product Design Engineering, Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC, 3122, Australia.
² Department of Mechanical and Product Design Engineering, Faculty of Science, Engineering & Technology, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC, 3122, Australia. Electronic address: glu@swin.edu.au.
³ School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 639798, Singapore.
⁴ Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

PMID: 31929094
DOI: 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2019.103603

Abstract

The paper presents for the first time the material properties and energy absorption capacity of durian shells with an attempt to use as an alternative sustainable material and mimic their structural characteristics to design a bio-inspired structure for protective packaging applications. A series of quasi-static compression tests were carried out to determine Young's modulus and bioyield stress of the durian shells as well as their energy absorption capacity. The mesocarp layers and thorns are interesting parts for investigating their energy absorption characteristics because they play an important role in protecting the flesh of durians during their drop impact onto the ground. The mesocarp layers of the shell were subjected to axial and lateral compression while the thorn specimens were compressed under axial loading with an increasing number of thorns. The results showed that the densification strain, plateau stress and specific energy absorption of the mesocarp layer under lateral loading is higher than that under axial loading. Furthermore, the compression tests on the thorns demonstrated that an increase in the number of thorns helped to absorb more energy and the specific energy absorption of the thorns was nearly two times higher than that of the mesocarp layer under the axial loading. In addition, the cyclic loading of the thorns showed that the extent of reversibility of deformation in the thorns decreases from 32% at the first cycle to around 10% at the 9th-cycle. Finally, the microstructure of the thorn and mesocarp layer was investigated to explain the experimental observation. The results indicated that the spherical shape associated with the thorns and mesocarp materials displayed an excellent energy absorption efficiency that can be mimicked to design an effective bio-inspired absorber for packing applications.

Keywords: Bio-inspired structures; Cellular material; Durian shells; Energy absorption; Mechanical properties; Progressive cyclic test.

MeSH terms

Bombacaceae*
Elastic Modulus
Fruit
Pressure