International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology (IJMET)

Volume 7, Issue 3, MayJune 2016, pp.267275, Article ID: IJMET_07_03_024

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THE VARIATION IN PHYSICAL

PROPERTIES AFFECTS THE VERTICAL
COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF THE
RUDRAKSHA-BEAD (ELAEOCARPUS
GANITRUS ROXB)
Abhishek Kr. Singh
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Shobhit University, Gangoh, Saharanpur (INDIA)
Durg Vijay Rai
Centre for Biological Engineering
Shobhit University, Gangoh, Saharanpur (INDIA)
ABSTRACT
The present work was undertaken to determine the physical properties i.e.
mass, sphericity, surface area, total surface volume changes the compressive
strength of bead. The vertical compressive strength of beads was monitored
under compression mode. Results showed that the compressive strength was
increasing with small variations in geometrical parameters of bead. The range
of compressive strength was found between 0.36 MPa to 0.80 MPa (N/mm2),
and it was also observed that compressive strength increasing with
incremental change in total surface volume and mass, but decreases with
increase in cortical thickness. It has been observed the maximum bead is of
cortical thickness 6 mm to 6.45mm and having maximum vertical compressive
strength. And after its cracking it has been found that in the various chamber
(depending on the mukhi) inside the bead 0-3 seeds are present. The
Rudraksha is used in number of activities from curing ailments in Ayurveda to
beautification in cosmetics items and also for medicinal purpose. In-order to
make an usable form it is required to be milled properly in the form of fine
powder. And the present data may support in designing a machine to
analyzing the load carrying capacity and making the powder for various
ayurvedic formulation.
Key words: Elaeocarpus Ganitrus Roxb. Rudraksha Beads, Nuts, Cortical
Thickness, Sphericity, Compressive Strength

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Abhishek Kr. Singh and Durg Vijay Rai

Cite this Article: Abhishek Kr. Singh and Durg Vijay Rai, The Variation In
Physical Properties Affects The Vertical Compressive Strength of The
Rudraksha-Bead (Elaeocarpus Ganitrus Roxb). International Journal of
Mechanical Engineering and Technology, 7(3), 2016, pp. 267275.
http://www.iaeme.com/currentissue.asp?JType=IJMET&VType=7&IType=3

1. INTRODUCTION
The fruits of Elaeocarpus Ganitrus Roxb. species are endowed with a very hard and
highly ornamental stony endocarp. Out of about 120 species of Elaeocarpus reported
from Asia, 25 species occur in India. Elaeocarpus ganitrus Roxb., commonly known
as Rudraksh, is a common tree along the foothills in Arunachal Pradesh (NE India)
except in Tawang, Upper Subansiri and some high altitude areas. Its nuts (rounded
endocarps) are attractive and have been used for religious purposes in India for
millennia. The nuts are used as beads in religious jewellery throughout India and
southeast Asia. The population of Rudraksh in the North Eastern region of India is
declining at an alarming rate due to deforestation. In asia the benefits of Rudrakshas
are always been known from long ages. Even, it is not only known but it is well
written in ancient literature and shastras. In india its popularity is well known because
of Aryans who came from central asia, who have written many vedic literature. Due
to increasing popularity of Rudraksha with general popularity in India, scientific
studies have been undertaken in recent years to determine whether there is any real
significance in the vedic literature regarding the healing powers of Rudraksha or not.
And the research confirmed that the healing powers of Rudraksha beads work
scientifically. Rudraksha beads are in the category of composite material because
beads are composed of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and some trace elements
in combined form. The percentage composition of these gaseous elements was
determined by C-H-N Analyzer and by Gas chromatography. These beads consist of
50.031 % carbon, 0.95% nitrogen, 17.897% hydrogen and 30.53% oxygen.
The present work is aimed to measure the effect of different types of physical
properties on the Vertical compressive strength of Rudraksha bead. Compressive
strength is the parameter to design milling machine to make the powder of Rudraksha
bead which is useful for various purposes in the field of medicine.

2. MATERIAL AND METHODS

2.1. Sample preparation and Physical properties measurements
The huge quantity of Rudraksha bead was collected from the forest of uttarakhand.
And we had taken 50 fruits of Rudraksha. The Rudraksha was taken out after peeling
off the pulp and brushing it clean then the Rudraksha beads was ready for the testing.
The collected rudrakhsa bead was dried at room temperature and dried in such a way
there is no moisture contain in any form. And divided into five groups
(Gp1.,Gp2.,Gp3.,Gp4. And Gp5.) On the basis of its mass with standard deviation
0.5 as shown in Table 1.
All the physical properties of Rudraksha bead i. e. Length in X as well as in Z
plane, diameter in Y plane, Cortical thickness etc was calculated by the help of
Vernier calipers and micrometer. And mass of the bead was monitored by electronic
weighing machine.

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The Variation In Physical Properties Affects The Vertical Compressive Strength of The
Rudraksha-Bead (Elaeocarpus Ganitrus Roxb)

2.2. Sphericity Calculation

The Sphericity of bead was calculated by the following formulae:
Sphericity =

abc 1 3 ,

a
Where, a = largest dimension of bead
b = Medium dimension of bead
c = Least dimension of bead

2.3. Compressive strength measurements

Rudraksha after calculation of all its dimensions given below is brought to the press
machine which is designed for testing of compressive load of Rudraksha vertically.
And before it we have made a compression testing machine for finding the Rudraksha
compression load. For that we were purchased a electronic weighing machine of
capacity upto 500 kg. which base is with load cell which display the calculated value
on the display unit which is fixed above the weighing machine. The weighing
machine is fixed as base of drilling machine on which the Rudraksha bead can be put
gently in different plane which was crack by the pressing the handle gently in which
the drilling rod is replaced by the rod which diameter is approximately equal to the
diameter of bead. The rod fixed in spindle is not in rotating form for compression
testing. The rod can only move up and down to press the object. As shown in Fig (1a). The machine consist of a base which is fitted with digital load cell which based on
the principle of strain gauge, the force being sensed deforms a strain gauge. The strain
gauge measures the deformation (strain) as a change in electrical resistance, which is
a measure of the strain and hence the applied forces. A load cell usually consists of
four strain gauges in a Wheatstone bridge configuration. The resistance values are
extremely small and are relational to the stress or strain that the material load cell is
undergoing at the time. The change in resistance of the strain gauge provides an
electrical value change that is calibrated to the load placed on the load cell.

Press Machine
Handle

Rudraksha
RRRudraksha

Loload

Base fitted with load cell upto

500kg

Figure (1-a) Schematic diagram of Mechanical testing unit

Strain gauge load cells convert the load acting on them into electrical signals. The
gauges themselves are bonded onto a beam or structural member that deforms when
weight is applied as shown in Fig (1).

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Abhishek Kr. Singh and Durg Vijay Rai

Two of the gauges are usually in tension, and two in compression, and are wired
with compensation adjustments. When weight is applied, the strain changes the
electrical resistance of the gauges in proportion to the load. Other load cells are fading
into obscurity, it can sense a small load of 100gm to a max load of 500kg.The upper
head consist of a handle for manually applying pressure on the rudraksh this handle is
used to apply gradual load on specimen. The load is applied on the specimen and its
reading is shown in a digital meter which is connected to the load cell the reading is
noted and the experiment is repeated on other specimen.
The base plate is used in the bottom so that the base does not deform on
application of load by the press machine and we get the best result the base plate is
14mm Mild steel plate weighing about 40 kg and is pure flat without any nicks and
burr the base plate is put over the load cell and its weight is subtracted from the load
cell by manipulating the digital meter to zero.
The press machine is also fitted with a handle which is used to apply the load
gradually this gradual load can be seen increasing in the digital meter ,the tip of the
press machine which is pressing the sample has area more than the area of sample so
that it cannot make the hole instead it break it. Special care is taken on that account;
samples are put vertically and horizontally on the base plate. The samples are dried in
order that no moisture is present in them.
Compressive strength is the capacity of a material or structure to withstand loads
tending to reduce size. It can be measured by plotting applied force against
deformation in a testing machine. if the material compresses and shortens it is said to
be in compression. As shown in Fig (1-b). And compressive strength are calculated by
applied force (N) per unit area (mm2). Mathematically-

Figure (1-b)

Where

Maximum load is calculated by monitoring of C.T.M. in kgf and after multiply by

9.81 N/s2 it is converted into Newton which called compression load.
Average area of bed face is calculated by 4r 2. Since the bead of Rudraksha is in the
form of Sphere with near about 0.90 sphericity.

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

All the results are clearly shown in the Table 1. And on basis of which the graphs
between the different physical parameters and compressive strength are plotted. And
found that the average compressive strength of Rudraksha bead is 0.67 Mpa (N/mm 2)
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The Variation In Physical Properties Affects The Vertical Compressive Strength of The
Rudraksha-Bead (Elaeocarpus Ganitrus Roxb)

in vertical plane. Ripe fruits of Rudraksh (Elaeocarpus ganitrus)have a stony

endocarp, about 17 mm diameter, covered by fleshy blue mesocarp that extends fruit
diameter to approximately 25 mm. Fruit weight with pulp and without pulp ranges 38
to 56 mg and 20 to 34 mg, respectively. Each fruit (nut) may contain 0-5 seeds. Ripe
fruits were collected in February, 2015 from Uttarakhand, in North India. Nuts were
cleaned in water physically after Removing the pulp from fruit and dry at room
temperature. The various nuts were cracked with compression testing machine and
study over there. As tabulated in Table 1.
Table 1 Physical properties and compressive strength

Gro
ups

Mass
(mg)

Length X
(mm)

Diameter
Y
(mm)

Length Z
(mm)

Total
Volume
(x103
mm3)

Sphericity
S.D.

Cortical
Thickness
Of bead
(mm)
S.D.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

250.5
260.5
270.5
290.5
300.5

200.75
21.401.4
21.310.05
22.270.5
22.400.3

16.300.45
17.401.5
15.602.5
16.380.5
17.320.5

19.200.1
18.371.5
18.100.15
18.320.15
19.320.12

6.250.5
6.841.2
6.010.65
6.680.5
7.490.5

0.9220.2
0.8870.05
0.8530.03
0.8450.01
0.8730.02

6.500.3
7.551.2
6.110.11
6.130.1
6.060.1

Compressi
ve
Strength
(vertical)
(MPa)
S.D.
0.780.02
0.680.4
0.560.23
0.680.1
0.800.12

Vertical Compressive
Strength (MPa)

Data: Mean standard deviation

As we know that sphericity is inversely proportional to the rolling friction. So we
are finding the sphericity of bead to know that how much it is sphere. Which is
helpful to find out the compressive strength. Finally after finding the sphericity we
observred that the average sphericity of the beads is 0.880. So it is clear that we can
assume the beads are in spherical form and find out the compressive strength of
Rudraksha bead on the basis of this.
0.85
0.75
0.65
0.55
0.45
0.35
0.25

y = 0.015x + 0.2643

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

Mass (mg)

Figure 2 Relationship between Mass and Vertical Compressive strength

The Fig 2 Relation between mass and vertical compressive strength clearly show
that the compressive strength of bead in vertical mode increases with mass. In the
graph the first point weight of bead is 25 mg and compressive strength is 0.78 MPa
and in second point the weight is 25.3 mg and compressive strength is 0.76 MPa. But
the after plotting the graph between the various point the positive slop
(y=0.015x+0.264) is indicate that the vertical compressive strength increases with the
weight of bead.

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Abhishek Kr. Singh and Durg Vijay Rai

Vertical Compressive Strength

(MPa)

0.95
0.85

y = 0.2057x - 0.6817

0.75
0.65
0.55
0.45
0.35
0.25

5.89

6.09

6.29

6.49

6.69
6.89
7.09
7.29
Total Volume (mm*3)

7.49

7.69

7.89

Figure 3 Relationship between Total volume and Vertical Compressive strength

In the Fig 3. it is clear that the compressive strength of Rudraksha bead in vertical
plane increases with total surface volume. The first point starts on which the surface
volume is 5.89 mm3 the compressive strength is 0.35 MPa and on second point the
surface volume is 6.09 mm3 the compressive strength is 0.56 MPa. And the positive
slope (y=0.205x-0.681) is clear that the total surface volume is directly proportional to
the compressive strength of bead.

Vertical Compressive Strength (MPa)

0.9
0.8
0.7
y = -0.0412x + 0.9317
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
6

6.2

6.4

6.6

6.8

7.2

7.4

Cortical Thickness (mm)

Figure 4 Relationship between Cortical thickness and vertical Compressive strength

In the Fig 4. We can see the relationship between the cortical thickness and
vertical compressive strength. This shows the compressive strength of Rudraksha
bead in vertical plane is inversely proportional to the cortical thickness of bead. It
means the surface area of bead is increases with the compressive strength decreases as
it compressive strength is directly proportional to the compression load and inversely
proportional to the surface area. In the graph slope (y=-0.041x+0.931) it clear that the
value of m is negative means if the value of x increases the value of y decreases.

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The Variation In Physical Properties Affects The Vertical Compressive Strength of The
Rudraksha-Bead (Elaeocarpus Ganitrus Roxb)

30

7.29
7.09

29

6.89

y = 2.531x + 4.8712
28

6.69
y = 2.309x + 25.381

6.49

27

Mass (mg)

Total volume (x 1000 mm3)

7.49

MPa-mm*3
MPa-mg
Linear (MPa-mm*3)
Linear (MPa-mm*3)

6.29
26

6.09
5.89

Linear (MPa-mg)

25

0.36

0.46

0.56

0.66

0.76

Vertical compressive strength (MPa)

Figure 5 Relationship between Vertical Compressive strength and Total Volume and Weight.

The above show that the mass and total surface volume of bead is directly
proportional to the compressive strength of Rudraksha bead. And in the above graph
the red colour line is show the relationship between the mass of bead and compressive
strength, Which give the positive slope. In the blue colour line show the relationship
between the total surface volume and compressive strength of Rudraksha bead, which
also give positive slope, means if total surface volume is increases the compressive
strength of bead will also increase. In both the case the slope is positive means the
value of m is positive which shows that if value on the axis of x-axis increases then
value on y-axis also increases. It is also indicate that the more total surface volume of
bead have the more compressive strength. And if the weight of bead is more than the
compressive strength is also more.

4. CONCLUSION
It has been observed that the Rudraksha bead is brittle material because it experience
compressive loads. A material is brittle if, when subjected to stress, it breaks without
significant deformation (strain). Brittle materials absorb relatively little energy prior
to fracture, even those of high strength. Breaking is often accompanied by a snapping
sound. And all these things is observed in Rudraksha-beads. So it is confirmed that
the bead is brittle material.
This paper concluded that the characteristics and mechanical properties of
Rudraksha beads under various compressive load conditions. As we know that
compressive strength of any material is useful to design process of machine.
Rudraksha beads are brittle material and having high compressive strength. The
compressive strength of Rudraksha bead is useful for milling machine, grinding
machine and crushing machine to mill the Rudraksha bead to make a powder that is
used for medicine purpose.

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Abhishek Kr. Singh and Durg Vijay Rai

5. ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The researcher would like to express the deepest gratitude to the Mahamandleshwar
Shri 108 Shri Swami Martundpuri Ji, Chairman, Centre of spirituality, Shobhit
University, Gangoh without his support this project would not possible. He is the
person who always leading and helping the researcher to finish this work.

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