Study on the Shear and Bending Mechanical Properties of Millet Stem
and Yanqing Zhang 2Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report (Previous Reviewer 1)
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsAgree to accept
Author Response
Thank you very much for taking the time to review this manuscript.
Reviewer 2 Report (New Reviewer)
Comments and Suggestions for Authors1. Selecting the best stems, free from diseases and without discoloration, does not provide a full statistical reference, a reference to the energy consumption needed to harvest plant material in real conditions. Because in the field, healthy plants, diseased plants, broken plants, etc. are cut down.
2. Why were 8 plants chosen and not 7 or 9. On what statistical basis did the authors of the article estimate that the number 8 (eight plants) gives a good statistical answer.
3. What was the geometry of the cutting edges during the shear experiment?
4. Does the cutting tool correspond to the actual operating conditions of the machine in the field?
5. Was there no crushing of the outer wall of the plant during bending?
6. To be sure whether the obtained research results are valuable, an appropriate statistical analysis should be performed. The article lacks such an analysis.
7. Most of the presented conclusions can be formulated on the basis of available literature and research conducted by other researchers.
8. In my opinion, the literature should be supplemented with articles by authors from all over the world. My analysis showed that the authors of the article limit themselves only to known items from outside Europe.
9. At this stage, I cannot recommend the article for further editorial work. The article should be corrected.
Author Response
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Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report (New Reviewer)
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe authors studied the shear and bending mechanical properties of millet stem, taking variety and maturity period as factors, and shear strength, specific shear energy, bending strength, elastic modulus, and bending stiffness as indicators. The mechanical models between the influencing factors and indicators were established, which has a good application prospect in the field of agricultural engineering. The comments for the improvement of this manuscript are as follows:
1) Biomechanical materials such as millet stems are usually anisotropic, and how do authors connect theoretical models with experimental conclusions?
2) The authors tested the shear and bending mechanical properties of the internodes, and what are the mechanical properties at the stem nodes? Does it affect the harvest of millet?
3) Line 137, the unit of specific shear energy should be MJ/mm2, not mJ/ mm2, and the same as the following units of specific shear energy.
4) Figure 1 and Figure 2, it is more concise to represent Figures 1 and 2 with the a and b in one figure.
5) Line 205, the (p<0.01) should be (p<0.001) according to the data analysis, the same as Line 273, Line 292.
6) Line 279, the “hadthe” should be “had the”.
7) Line 366, the “A cutting deck should be selected for harvesting grain stems, with the height set at the 5th internode of the stem.” was suggested modifying to “When harvesting millet, it is recommended to set the height of the cutting table at the 5th node of the stem.”
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report (New Reviewer)
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsAfter sending explanations and making corrections, I recommend the article for further work in order to publish it.
This manuscript is a resubmission of an earlier submission. The following is a list of the peer review reports and author responses from that submission.
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for Authors1. The abstract and introduction mention that a theoretical basis is provided for breeding, but the experiments and conclusions do not seem to have been confirmed.
2. In Section 3.1.1, experiments were performed to demonstrate the effect of internode position on stem shear forces. Only Changza 466 was tested, not every internode of the other two varieties. Some conclusions are found in the following text. Please provide other experiments and corresponding conclusions.
3. When the shear displacement in Figure 3 is between 2-4, the shear force curve suddenly decreases. Please explain why.
4. The color of your picture is too single, please add multiple colors. The legend is too large, it is recommended to change the size.
5. Please check the language and formatting, such as lines 108, 135, 156, and 203.
6. When analyzing significant differences, please comment on the specific meaning of uppercase and lowercase letters.
7. In the analysis of variance, the fitting result is too small. Please explain or use a different installation method.
8. The conclusion section is lengthy, please shorten it to draw specific conclusions.
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsAll Comments have inserted and highlighted in the manuscript.
Accuracy of instruments should be recorded by positive and negative signs.
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
Check the manuscript for final english corrections.
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe manuscript studied the shear and bending mechanical properties of millet stems through experimental method, and analyzed data through a large number of statistical methods. This study has certain value for designing cutting mechanisms. However, the research depth is insufficient, and the methods of test and statistical are not accuracy enough. There are several specific suggestions.
1. (Line 89-90) The growth stage, location, sampling number, and moisture content of stem sampling should be described in the Materials and Methods. How to avoid water loss in stem samples and whether it is necessary to add water?
2. (Line 105-107) The moisture content of the stem measured by the drying method should be a determined value without an error bar, such as 74.0±3.7%.
3. (Line 124) In formula 1, t is the stem wall thickness. Is it single-sided or double-sided? Measurement methods and data for thickness should be provided.
4.(Line152) 9.9 mm should be 9.90 mm.
5. (Line 133) mJ/mm2 or MJ/mm2?
6.(Table 3 and Table 4) Is the error freedom 30. Table 4 is the repeated description of the data in Table 3.
7.The loading speed during the experiment was not specified. How to avoid rolling and flipping of stem during the cutting and bending process?
8. The reciprocating cutter of a grain combine harvester is generally in the form of sliding cutting. How can the direct cutting data obtained from experiments be applied to the design of the cutting mechanism?
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 4 Report
Comments and Suggestions for Authors1. The reference of the paper is mainly based on the research of Chinese researchers. There is too little research literature from other countries.
2. The format of the paper writing is not rigorous, even the author's name writing format is not uniform at all.
Comments on the Quality of English LanguageThe English expression of the paper is slightly inaccurate, and it is recommended to further revise and polish it.
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
