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How to measure and analyse the texture of food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and adhesives.

Tuesday 11 September 2018

Tensile Testing using a Texture Analyser – Calculating Fundamental Parameters

TA.HDplus tensile testing
Tensile testing involves a sample held in two grips a set distance apart. The loading arm (attached to the top grip) moves up at a constant speed to deform the sample, first deforming it elastically then plastically. If the force required to break the sample is within the limit of the load cell, fracture will occur.

It is a very useful test for monitoring quality of irregular objects, such as the toughness of pizza or the texture of fish. However, this test setup can also provide useful stress-strain data if the sample has a uniform cross-section, providing accurate measurements are made of the sample’s dimensions. “Dogbone” shaped specimens are often used in tension, with two wide sections tapering to a narrower central section.

Indentation Testing using a Texture Analyser – Calculating Fundamental Parameters

Although it has long been known that some materials are harder than others, indentation tests to find quantitative hardness values only came about in the 1800s. 

Once it was established as a valuable technique, hardness testing machines started to appear on the market early in the following century. Old fashioned indentation testing involved the application of a weighted probe onto a flat sample surface that was left for a set time period. The hardness of the sample was calculated from the area of the residual dent left in the sample. “Instrumented” (computer controlled) indentation testing has now been in use for many years, and involves the collection of force, displacement and time data, which is why the Texture Analyser is so well-suited to this type of measurement.