RHEOLOGY PROPERTIES

OF FOOD MATERIALS
Elastic Properties of Foods

Many food systems are solids or display

partial solid behavior
Knowledge of solid behavior important
to understanding solids, semi-solids,
and visco-elastic foods
To understand food texture, we need to
understand how foods respond when
we apply forces to them
Elastic Properties and Texture
Food texture is evaluated by application
of forces to the food
The perceived texture of a food is a
combination of its mechanical properties
and structure
Measurement of elastic properties well
defined; measurement of “texture” more
tenuous
Solid Foods

Solid behavior is characterized by

elastic properties
Examples of elastic solid foods:
egg shells
macaroni noodles
hard candies
Strength of Materials
The study of the elastic properties of
materials usually falls under “strength of
materials: how do bridges, concrete, steel
bolts respond to small deformations
Food texture concerned with weakness of
materials- how forces cause large
deformations in the food that it breaks or
disintegrates
Stress/Strain Relations

Solids described by the strain produced

by an applied stress
Stress: force per unit area that causes a
strain
Strain: some fractional change in the
dimensions of a material due to stress.
The type of strain produced depends on
the way in which the stress is applied
Normal vs Shear Stress
Normal Stress: acts perpendicular to a
surface area
Area A

Force
•Shear Stress: acts parallel to the area

Force
 Stress and Strain

If a force acts on an eraser, it will

stretch
If the cross-section of the eraser is twice
as large it will take twice the force to
stretch it the same amount. The stress
is defined as the force per area
F

A
The strain is a measure of how much
the material deforms when subject to a
stress
Usually expressed as a fraction of
change per length of material

Area A ∆l
F F
l


  strain 
Hooke’s law

Stress = Constant X Strain

Area A
Force Force
F F

ForceForce
2F 2F

Area 2A
The stress is opposed by intermolecular
forces within the material. The more the
material, the greater the internal force
resisting the stress.
Types of Stress

Three types of stress are possible

Tension stress
Compression stress
Shear stress

Other stresses (twisting, bending) are

derived from these
Tension Stress
Tension stress is the force per unit area
that produces a small elongation of a
material (l)
Area A ∆l
F F F
l


  strain 
Compressive Stress

Compression stress is the force per unit

area that produces a reduction in length
Area A ∆l
F F F
l


  strain 
 Shear Stress
Shear stress acts tangent to a surface and
moves the surface out of line with layers
underneath F

 s  shear strain =  tan 
h
 Hydrostatic Pressure
Hydrostatic pressure is a variation of compression
in which the stress acts inward in all directions
F
F
  stress   P (hydrostatic pressure)
Pist o n A
area A
V
 = strain =
V
 ELASTIC MODULI
The rheological properties of solids are
described by elastic moduli which relate the
amount of deformation caused by a given
stress
Assumptions:
elements are elastic: complete recovery occurs
when stress is removed
small strains are applied (1-3%)
material is continuous, homogeneous
There are 4 elastic moduli for solids, all
of which are variations of Hooke’s law

Stress = Constant X Strain

 Young’s Modulus:

F
stress 
E  = A Longitudinal compression or stretching
strain  
 Shear Modulus:

Ft Ft
stress  s A
G  = = A Shearing
strain  s  tan
h
 Bulk Modulus:

F
stress  P
K  =  A Volume compression
strain   V
V
 Poisson’s Ratio

Usually, when you stretch a sample in one

direction, it contracts in the other direction
Defined by Poisson’s ratio µ

w h 
  
w h
²
w ² w
F
h ² h
The elastic moduli and Poisson’s ratio
are sufficient information to describe the
elastic properties of a material
Superposition Principle

In the simple case, stress is linearly

proportional to the strain produced
The resulting displacements of more
than one stress is the sum of the
displacements
 Example: Volume Compression
For a block in a tank of water, we could consider
linear compression along each direction
F
w P h P  P
  
Pist o n w E h E E
area A
Force in any one direction is countered
by a force due to squeezing of the other
sides
Thus:
w h l P P P
    
w h l E E E
P
  (1 2)
E
For a small displacements
V  w h
  
V w h

P
 3 (1 2  )
E

V
 = P = -K
V
Bending

An objects resistance to bending

depends on both material properties
and its shape (not just cross sectional
area)
Bending is a combination of
compression and tension
 F/ 2 F/ 2
L
b R
a

The forces form a couple that tend to rotate the bar

The upper half of the bar is compressed;
the lower half is under tension
Upper and lower surfaces are distorted the
most and experience the greatest
compression and tension forces
The beam bends with radius R. The
torque is given by:
IA
  internal torque= E
R

where
a 3b
IA  moment of inertia 
12
Buckling

Failure often occurs due to large

torques rather than simple linear
compression or tension
Large diameter-thin wall tructures tend
to fail by buckling
If the center of gravity of a hollow
cylinder is off-center, the weight will
exert a force about a point
Twisting

If a cylinder is fixed at one end, and

coupled forces are applied at the other,
a torque is produced that twists the
object.
The problem is similar to bending but
we consider a polar moment of inertia
The torque T is related to the
deformation 


  GI p

r 4
Ip 
2
Large Deformations

As more and more force is applied over

an area, the strain increases
After a certain point, Hooke’s law may
no longer apply
A typical stress-strain curve
Linear Region:
Hooke’s law obeyed
Stress proportional
to strain
Linear limit reached
at point A
A to B: material still
elastic and returns
to orignal state
when force removed
Stress not
proportional to strain
Point B: elastic limit
B to C: further stress
causes rapid increase
in strain
If force removed object
does not return to
original dimensions
Point C: ultimate
tension strength. Even
smaller force will cause
deformation
D: fracture point
Curve from B-D:
plastic deformation
Area under curve up
to D is work required
to break the material
•B-D is “plastic deformation”
•Brittle materials: C and D are close
together
•Ductile materials: C and D are far apart
•Area under curve up to point D is energy
needed to break the material
Brittle
Ductile
Malleability: a material's ability to deform
under compressive stress; this is often
characterized by the material's ability to
form a thin sheet by hammering or rolling.
Ductility: mechanical property used to
describe the extent to which materials can
be deformed plastically without fracture
(a) Ductile fracture
(b) Ductile fracture
(c) Completely ductile fracture
Ductile materials deform quite a bit
(through plastic deformation) before
they break
Brittle materials deform very little before
they break
 Brittle material
Stress

Ductile material

Strain
Ductile Brittle
Fracture is a process of breaking a solid
into pieces as a result of stress.
There are two principal stages of the
fracture process:
Crack formation
Crack propagation
Ductile fracture

Ductile materials undergo plastic

deformation and absorb significant
energy before fracture.
A crack, formed as a result of the ductile
fracture, propagates slowly and when
the stress is increased.
Permanent deformation at the tip of the
advancing crack that leaves distinct
patterns in SEM images.
Fractures are perpendicular to the
principal tensile stress, although other
components of stress can be factors.
The fracture surface is dull and
fibrous.There has to be a lot of energy
available to extend the crack.
Brittle Fracture

Very low plastic deformation and low

energy absorption prior to breaking.
A crack, formed as a result of the brittle
fracture, propagates fast and without
increase of the stress applied to the
material.
The brittle crack is perpendicular to the
stress direction.
There is no gross, permanent
deformation of the material.
Characteristic crack advance markings
frequently point to where the fracture
originated.The path the crack follows
depends on the material's structure. In
metals, transgranular and intergranular
cleavage are important. Cleavage
shows up clearly in the SEM.