Development of small-sized articulated hammers for feed mill applications

This study focuses on the development of optimized working elements for feed crushers, specifically articulated hammer designs that efficiently process plant-based agricultural waste into feed for animals and poultry.The primary objective is to design small-sized feed crusher hammers that enhance comminution efficiency while reducing material usage.Four hammer prototypes with varying sidewall inclination angles (15, 30, 45, and 60) were developed and tested.Experimental results indicate a significant correlation between sidewall angle and hammer mass, with the most substantial weight increase (13.5%) observed between 15 and 30.Further increases to 45 and 60 resulted in 5.3% and 1% mass gains, respectively.Grinding tests on corn grain revealed that hammers with a 15 inclination provided superior particle size distribution, achieving 92.6% of particles under 3 mm and only 7.4% in the 3-4 mm range.These findings suggest that lower sidewall angles yield more steady and finer grinding performance.Moreover, geometric and surface area analysis confirmed that smaller angles contribute to reduced metal consumption, with the novel hammer designs using up to 31% less material than conventional rectangular hammers.The proposed designs present a promising approach to improving feed crusher efficiency through geometry-based hammer optimization, aligning with sustainability and cost-reduction goals in agricultural machinery development.