Deformation and breakage of biofuel wood pellets

[Display omitted] •Modeling approach to study contact behavior of single biofuel wood pellets is presented.•Feasibility to quantify model-based mech. properties from lab tests is presented.•Model validity is demonstrated by comparing exp. measurements and simulations.•Holistic influences of selected material properties and manufacturing is discussed. A convenient approach to employ an elliptic load-deformation elastoplastic approximation has been proposed and used to evaluate the mechanical behavior of pinewood biofuel pellets from lab-scale compressive load-deformation measurements. Verification of model predictions has been attempted against apparent finite element method based simulations. A database of essential mechanical properties has been established. This submission is intended as a model for being able to study the deformation and breakage behavior using lab-scale compression tests.