Viscoelastic behavior creep compliance data

Creep-compliance studies conducted in the linear viscoelastic range also provide valuable information on the viscoelastic behavior of foods (Sherman, 1970 Rao, 1992). The existence of linear viscoelastic range may also be determined from torque-sweep dynamic rheological experiments. The creep-compliance curves obtained at all values of applied stresses in linear viscoelastic range should superimpose on each other. In a creep experiment, an undeformed sample is suddenly subjected to a constant shearing stress, Oc. As shown in Figure 3 1, the strain (y) will increase with time and approach a steady state where the strain rate is constant. The data are analyzed in terms of creep-compliance, defined by the relation ... 

The steady-flow viscosity qo and the steady-state compliance can easily be determined from creep data in the region of linear viscoelastic behavior as shown-in Fig. 1-12, from equation 40 of Chapter 1, provided steady-state flow has been attained. However, it is easy to be misled into believing prematurely that the linear portion of the creep curve has been reached in general, it cannot be expected to become linear until the flow term t/vo is at least as large as the intercept / . It is always desirable to perform the recovery experiment shown in Fig. 1-12 to conflrm the calculation. 

The DMA time temperature superposition (TTS) creep method assumes linear viscoelastic behavior with characteristic superposition [8, 9]. The Wilhams-Landel-Ferry equation describes the TTS results and is used to project time-temperature data from short term tests to generate a master curve describing the normalized time-compliance for a temperature T when a reference temperature Tj ( Tg+50°C) is set. A shift factor (aj) is used to shift the curves and is defined as... 

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