Determination of Selected Engineering Properties of Soybean (Glycine max) Related to Design of Processing Machine

In this study, selected engineering properties of two improved varieties of soybean (Samsoy 2 and Tas 1485-ID) grown in Oman were determined. The properties of Samsoy 2 are: Length (6.39 mm), width (5.28 mm), thickness (4.69 mm), roundness (1.26), sphericity (2.94), mass (34 g), volume (0.42 mm 3 ), density (0.66 kg/m 3 ), surface area (6.48 cm 2 ), angle of internal friction (5.10°), angle of repose (17.50o) and moisture content (7.01% db). The compressive strength, tensile strength, abrasive strength, shear strength and torsion strength of Samsoy 2 are 98.60 N, 99.60 N, 98.55 N, 97.50 N and 97.45 N, respectively while its hardness is 28.07 kg. The properties of Tas 1485-ID are: Length (6.47 mm), width (5.43 mm), thickness (4.65 mm), roundness (1.48), sphericity (3.30), mass (30 g), volume (0.48 mm 3 ), density (0.42 kg/m 3 ), surface area (7.46 cm 2 ), angle of internal friction (7.43°), angle of repose (12.85o) and moisture content (6.80%db). The compressive strength, tensile strength, abrasive strength, shear strength and torsion strength of Tas 1485-ID are 101.30 N, 100.50 N, 100.45 N, 100.55 N and 101.45 N, respectively while its hardness is 19.37 kg. Statistical tests on the engineering properties showed that there are no significant differences at 5% level between the mean values of the dimensions (length, width and thickness), roundness, sphericity, volume, density and moisture contents of the two soybean varieties studied. However, the differences between the mean values of surface area, angle of internal friction, compressive strength and tensile strength are significant at 5% level; while the mean values of angle of repose, hardness, abrasive strength, shear strength and torsion strength are highly significant at 5% level.