Mechanical Behavior of Briquettes Made from a Mixture of Sawdust and Rice Husks for Commercialization

Abstract

The development of this research work seeks to determine the mechanical behavior of the compacted mixture of pine sawdust and rice husk by varying the mass percentages of these biomasses obtained in briquettes, with the purpose of being marketed. The finite element software ANSYS is used to corroborate the results obtained for the samples named AIO, BIO and CIO with rice husk mass percentages of 25, 50 and 75, respectively. In the computational simulations, Young’s moduli of between 651 and 813 MPa and a Poisson’s ratio of 0.8 were found for all samples. In compression tests, Von Mises stresses of between 87 and 90 MPa and Von Mises strains between 0.09 and 0.12 m/m were found. Free-fall tests showed von Mises stresses below 4.24 MPa. It was determined that increasing the percentage of rice husk mass in the simulation models increased the value of Young’s modulus and compressive strength, this is a positive indication in relation to the strength of the formed briquettes, in case they are required to be transported for commercial purposes, however no defined stress and strain behavior was obtained for the impact tests, since the heights of 2 m and 5 m together with the masses established for the specimens do not cause high impact forces.