Determination of Young's Modulus in the Circumferential Direction of Corn Stalks

Abstract

A corn stalk is assumed to be a tube with strong anisotropic properties. For this model a set of four fundamental equations is written which describes the behaviour of one-dimensional pressure waves of small amplitude and long wavelength in an infinite thin-walled compliant tube with walls of elastic rings. The reductive Taniuti-Wei (1968) method is developed in order to reduce this set to Burgers' equation. Finally, formulae which describe the velocity of pressure shocks are derived. The analysis of these formulae along with associated measurements allows calculation of Young's modulus in the circumferential direction for corn stalks.