Potential of finite element method to optimize the olive harvester machine (hand-held rotary harvester)

The mechanical damage of olive caused by harvesting machines is one of the main reasons for the quality reduction of produced olive oil. The hand-held rotary harvester (RH) is a machine that is used in small orchards extensively. The present paper focuses on utilizing the finite element method (FEM) to define the percentage of bruising damage by RH with two different materials of the head component (Ethylene Propylene Rubber and Neoprene). Three cultivars, ripening stage, and rotational speeds of RH head components were considered for experimental and simulation methods. The controlled impactor device was developed to validate the simulation process. The simulation and experimental results showed the Ethylene Propylene Rubber head produced less stress and bruise volume than the Neoprene head. Moreover, the quality characteristics of extracted olive oil, including free fatty acid, peroxide value, K232 and K270 coefficients, total chlorophyll, total carotenoid, total phenol, and total flavonoid were measured. Finally, the correlation of quality characteristics of olive oil, measured bruise volume and simulated was investigated using linear model and principal components analysis. Practical applications Despite the advancement of horticulture industries, the demand for optimization of agricultural machinery to decrease mechanical damage during the harvest process exists. The hand-held olive harvester causes the bruise phenomenon reduction, leading to decrease quality of extracted olive oil. In this research, the time-dependent finite element method based on dynamic-explicit was utilized to simulate the harvest process. The results show that using the numerical and statistical methods, the producer factories of olive harvester machines can optimize the devices to enhance the quality of harvested olive and extracted olive oil.