Ìnce et al. (2005) used a physical property analyzer to
research the shear properties of sunflower stem. The
experimental results indicated that the moisture content and
shearing stress increased exponentially, and the shearing
stress increased along the upper, middle, and lower levels
of stem. It was also found that the structural heterogeneity
of the stem resulted in a higher shearing stress and specific
shearing energy at a lower level of stem. Tavakoli et al.
(2009) studied the effect of moisture content and loading
rate on the shearing characteristics of barley straw. The
experimental results indicated that the shear strength and
shearing energy of barley straw increased with the moisture
content and loading rate.