Development of dried apple slicing machine design and prototype

Dried fruit sector is increasing day by day in our country trade and it is preferred because of its health benefits. Apple dried is one of the most preferred products among dried fruits. Our farmers perform slicing before drying manually or using simple tools.This reduces the product quality and at the same time leads to intensive labor. Mechanization applications are needed to increase production and quality for dry apple. In this thesis, a prototype machine was designed and manufactured for slicing process which is the pre-drying stage of apple. The machine was tested at three different speeds and three different blade distance. Work productivity, apple slice thickness, power consumption and product losses were determined. Graphs were created and interpreted from all obtained data. According to the results of the experiment, it is seen that the desired slice thicknesses are obtained when the prototype is operated at suitable cycles where the work efficiency is sufficient. It is thought that product losses will decrease by increasing the wall thickness and changing the dimensions of the material used in the manufacturing stage. In addition, the noise levels measured at different revolutions were not reached to sound levels harmful to the prototype hearing system and acceptable data were obtained. According to the results of the study, the apple slicing machine will contribute to the design and technical parameters of the machine. In addition, mechanization of small and medium-sized enterprises in this area will positively affect the increase in production and product quality of dried fruits. It is thought that this study will shed light on the mechanization attempts in the apple drying sector.