Mechanical Decortication
Flax straw processing machinery relies on fluted steel cylinders to fracture the brittle woody stem without damaging the surrounding phloem fibers. Industrial breaking rollers crush harvested flax stems under regulated hydraulic pressure during primary decortication in fiber preparation plants. Interlocking flutes shear the rigid shive into small fragments while leaving long line flax bundles intact.
Operating speed and gap clearance dictate the degree of stem disintegration achieved before hackling. The mechanical stage applies specifically to unretted or retted straw stalks and terminates once crushed stems enter the scutching turbine.
Roll Configuration
Pairings of grooved cylinders operate in sequential sets with progressively finer flute pitches to achieve uniform stem cracking. Helical or straight grooves exert alternating bending and compression forces as straw mats pass through the nip points. Adjusting pressure settings accommodates variations in stem diameter resulting from seasonal growing conditions.
Improper gap settings either crush valuable fiber strands or leave woody shive firmly attached to the ribbon.
Fiber Extraction
Effective stem cracking determines the efficiency of subsequent scutching operations where mechanical beaters strip away liberated wood fragments. Insufficient breaking leaves shive bound to fiber strands, forcing scutching units to apply aggressive mechanical action that increases tow production. Over-breaking reduces long line fiber yield by creating transverse fractures along bast bundles.
Controlled roller operation balances wood removal against fiber length preservation.
