Cereal Chem 69:217-221   |  VIEW ARTICLE

Characterization and Prediction of the Compressive Stress-Strain Relationship of Layered Arrays of Spongy Baked Goods.

S. Swyngedau and M. Peleg. Copyright 1992 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

The sigmoid compressive stress-strain curves of crumbs from three types of bread, pound cake, and double- layered arrays of these materials (0-70% deformation) are described by two kinds of three-parameter mathematical models. The model structures were especially selected so that they could be transformed algebraically from stress-strain to strain-stress relationships or be determined directly from the strain-stress data by nonlinear regression. The model parameters enabled calculation of a specimen's deformation-force relationship with any given dimensions. When an in-series array of objects having the same cross-sectional area is deformed uniaxially, the force along the array is the same and the deformation the sum of that of its components. Since sponge compression is not accompanied by a significant lateral expansion, the effects of friction between the layers can be neglected. This enabled the prediction of the force-deformation and stress-strain relationships of double-layered arrays with reasonable accuracy from the compression parameters of the components' material.