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{ Natural fibre-reinforced composite has the potential to replace current materials used for automotive industrial applications. Oilseed flax fibre could be used as reinforcement for composites because it is readily available, environmentally friendly and possesses good mechanical properties. In this research, oilseed flax fibre reinforced-LLDPE and -HDPE biocomposites were developed through extrusion and injection molding. The flax fibre was chemically treated to improve the bond between the fibre and polymer. Flax fibre was mixed with low linear density polyethylene (LLDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) with fibre content varying from 10 to 30% by mass and processed by extrusion and injection molding to biocomposites. The mechanical properties, surface properties, and thermal properties of biocomposites were measured to analyze the treatment and processing effect and to compare the effect of different flax fibre concentrations on the biocomposites.

Repetitive movements have been found to affect assembly operations in many ways such as increasing the risk of injuries, increasing the cost of production, and reduction in the quality of products. This has been a big problem for industries. The method adopted by these studies seems to pose more injuries to workers as workers need to perform a task to the extreme level of pain to determine if repetitive injuries will occur or not. The method of modeling and simulation of human operations is a valid technique that is effective, but could be complex. Some of the modeling and simulation software packages make use of such guidelines as NIOSH, Snook and Ciriello, RULA, REBA, and Biomechanics single action analysis. However, various applications of these tools in actual ergonomic studies tend to be very time consuming and trivial due to the lack of a valid framework to guide the process.

The agricultural combine harvester is one of the most complex of machines used in cereal grain production. It is believed that significant increases in efficiency and productivity could be realized if several of the machine adjustments could be automatically controlled. One of the most important parameters to measure and control is the feedrate, i.e. the mass flow rate of material entering the machine. This paper reports on an investigation of a sensor, using electrical capacitance techniques, to measure feedrate.

Understanding the Relationships between plants and soil is important in the development of methods of crop production. Although physical properties of soil conducive to plant growth can be recognized by experienced observers, many of these properties have not been defined satisfactorily in mathematical or physical terms. A method of measuring penetration resistance and energy exerted by a mechanical seedling (a steel probe simulating a seedling) as it moved upward through the soil surface under different levels of surface compaction and soil moisture was examined. Mechanical seedlings with 2.06, 3.19 and 4.65 mm tip diameters were tested at soil moisture levels of 13, 17, and 20%. The penetration rate of the mechanical seedling while moving through the soil was held constant at 10 mm/min. Results showed that the emergence energy increased directly with soil surface compaction pressure, initial soil moisture content, and mechanical seedling diameters.

A new prototype of a single unit till-planting system suitable for Egyptian soil was designed, constructed, and tested under soil bin and field conditions. Measurements were taken for draft, soil mean weight diameter, and seedling emergence. Results indicated that there are potential benefits of using this system rather to other tillage systems under dry and hard soil conditions. An optimum seedbed was created for rapid seedling emergence. Combinations of tillage, planting, and fertilizer application were performed in a single operation to reduce power and time requirements for crop production.

Flax, which is known for its linens and oils that are used for industrial products, can also be utilized as a cost effective and environmentally acceptable approach to the creation of a partially biodegradable biocomposite. Biocomposite material is investigated by combining recycled tire rubber, flax and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE). The manufacturing process which be used to fabricate the biocomposite product included Extrusion and Compression Molding. Optimizing and studying the composition percentages of the compounds were studied in this paper. Moreover, the properties of the product were observed by using tensile test, tearing test, water absorption test, hardness test and Differential Scanning Calorimetry.