Simulating the Effects of a Trunk Shaker on An Almond Tree Trunk to Determine the Cause of Ceratocystis Canker
William Perez, and Ashlie Martini, PhD
During almond harvesting, a trunk shaker applies a force and vibrating motion to shake the tree to drop the almonds. However, the contact from the trunk shaker damages the trunk which results in Ceratocystis Canker, a disease that infects the tree and eventually causing it to die. In order to understand the cause of the Ceratocystis Canker, the cambial zone of the trunk is analyzed to determine the forces and stresses caused by the trunk shaker that relate to the damage. By building a Solidworks simulation, we can determine amount of displacement and stress being applied from the interaction of the trunk shaker with the almond tree bark using specific parameters. The simulation will show results of the amount of stress, force and displacement of the almond tree trunk that is damaged from the trunk shaker. By determining the parameters that causes damage to the trunk of an almond tree, an optimized solution can help prevent less loss of almond trees.
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