This work presents an alternative method for terminal speed and drag force determinations for coffee fruits with different moisture contents and geometric configurations (spherical and elliptic). Specifically, the use of the finite element technique was investigated for obtaining: (a) product drag forces using experimental values of the fruit dimensions and its terminal velocity and (b) product terminal velocity using experimental values of fruit dimensions and weight. The use of finite element technique was shown to be an efficient tool to simulate terminal velocity and drag force on coffee fruits submitted to airflow. Independent of the fruit moisture content, simulated and experimental values for the terminal velocity and drag force did not differ statistically when the product was considered elliptic. For each product moisture content, the mean relative errors involved in the simulated values of terminal velocity were not superior to 7.5 and 13.6% for the fruits considered elliptic and spherical, respectively.
geometric configuration; drag force; Coffea arabica L.
