Abstract
Mechanical characteristics of flower stalks (scapes) of garlic such as shear forces, cutting forces, and modulus of elasticities were investigated as a preliminary research to develop a mechanical harvester of garlic bulbils. The average shear forces of garlic scapes was 0.642 N and the maximum and minimum shear forces were 1.42 and 0.25 N, respectively. The shear forces generally increased as the diameter of garlic scapes increased. There was no correlation between the modulus of elasticity and the diameter of garlic scapes and the average modulus of elasticity of garlic scapes was around $2.40\times10^7\;N/m^2$ There was also no correlation between the cutting force and the diameter of garlic scapes. As the downward speed of blade increased, the cutting force of garlic scapes decreased and reversed to increase. The cutting forces of the lower part garlic scapes were lower than those of the upper part. The range of cutting forces of the lower and the upper part of garlic scapes were 3.88-4.04 N and 4.29-4.93 N, respectively.
