Rheology and Fracture Mechanics of Foods

Combining rheology and fracture mechanics, this unique textbook describes how rheological and fracture properties of foods are related to their structure. Divided into three parts, the first part reviews basic concepts and emphasizes aspects relevant for studying food products, raw materials, and intermediate products. The second part introduces measuring methods and the equipment used for studying mechanical properties of food products; highlighting tests that deliver reproducible and interpretable data. The final part investigates the relation between rheological and fracture behavior of matter and physical structure at the relevant molecular, mesoscopic, and macroscopic length scales.