Mechanical property measurement rheological properties

The study of mechanical properties encompassing rheology and fracture mechanics is a vast, dynamic and an exciting area and can scarcely be reviewed in one chapter. In this review, the focus is to define the material functions of foods and to discuss the current measurement techniques for the material properties that are of growing interest in the industry. The discussion centers on measurement techniques for the following three topics ... 

Measurements of the response of ice cream to deformation, such as mechanical properties and rheology. 

Four modes of characterization are of interest chemical analyses, ie, quaUtative and quantitative analyses of all components mechanical characterization, ie, tensile and impact testing morphology of the mbber phase and rheology at a range of shear rates. Other properties measured are stress crack resistance, heat distortion temperatures, flammabiUty, creep, etc, depending on the particular appHcation (239). 

Rheological Properties Measurements. The viscoelastic behavior of the UHMWPE gel-like systems was studied using the Rheometric Mechanical Spectrometer (RMS 705). A cone and plate fixture (radius 1.25 cm cone angle 9.85 x 10" radian) was used for the dynamic frequency sweep, and the steady state shear rate sweep measurements. In order to minimize the error caused by gap thickness change during the temperature sweep, the parallel plates fixture (radius 1.25 cm gap 1.5 mm) was used for the dynamic temperature sweep measurements. 

The estimation of degree of dispersion can be made indirectly by measurement of electrical methods or measurement of mechanical properties. Boonstra54 used a coaxial electrode system to estimate dispersion form electrical resistivity whilst Belokur et al55 investigated the possibility of assessing dispersion from rheological measurements. 

Clearly, it may be possible to define and accurately measure many aspects of the mechanical and rheological properties of foods, but to try and relate these measures to consumer perceptions of the texture of the foods, is fraught with difficulties. Conversely, it is possible to train human subjects to assess textural characteristics of foods in defined and consistent ways (training them to mimic an instrumental response), however this may be missing the diversity of perceptions of food texture experienced by normal consumers. 

It is important for the process engineer to know the rheological properties of a material since the properties dominate the flow of the material in extrusion processes and also dominates the physical and mechanical properties of the extrudates. Therefore, it is also important to measure the properties utilizing a similar miniaturized extruder in the laboratory so that a process engineer knows the flow properties in the system by simulating the production line. Also, it is desirable to know the flow properties of a material to be processed in the range of shear rates of equipments to be used. 

Since sensory and mechanical properties of a food depend on its microstructure, the knowledge of microstructure must precede any operation aimed to the attainment of a specific texture (Ding and Gunasekaran, 1998). The instrumental measurements of mechanical and rheological properties represent the food responses to the forces acting on the food structure and, for this reason, are affected by the way in which these analyses are performed. Furthermore, mechanical and rheological tests are always destructive and make impossible the execution of other analyses. 

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