Effect of different extrusion methods on physicochemical properties and qualities of noodles based on rice flour

Rice noodles have been manufactured in the food industry using different extrusion methods, such as traditional and modern extrusions, which affect the noodle structure and qualities. Therefore, the effects of the extrusion process on qualities of rice noodles using the same blend of rice flour and crosslinked starch were evaluated. In this study, a capillary rheometer was used as an alternative approach to simulate the traditional extrusion method in which the noodles are obtained by continuously pressing the pregelatinized noodle dough through a die. For modern extrusion, a twin-screw extruder was employed to obtain the noodles in a one-step process. The optimal range of moisture content used in the formulation was studied. Upon cooking, the noodles showed a decrease in cooking time and cooking loss with increasing moisture content in the formulation. All cooked noodles showed comparable tensile strength, but those extruded by a twin-screw extruder had substantially greater elongation. Scanning electron micrographs revealed that the noodles prepared using the extruder had a denser starch matrix, while those obtained from a capillary rheometer showed the aggregation of starch fragments relevant to the existence of starch gelatinization endotherm from differential scanning calorimetry. This indicated that the extrusion process using the twin-screw extruder provided a more uniform starch transformation, i.e., more starch granule disruption and gelatinization, thus giving the noodles a more coherent structure and better extensibility after cooking. The obtained results suggested that different thermomechanical processes used in the noodle industry gave the extruded rice noodles different qualities respective to their different microstructures.

Mechanical and Rheology Properties of PLA/ABS/TCS Polymer Blends

Binary and ternary blends of poly lactic acid (PLA), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and tapioca cassava starch (TCS) were prepared by the help of melt blend method. Rheological and mechanical properties of the prepared blends were studied. Rheological properties were studied using capillary Rheometer, shear rate, shear stress, the non-Newtonian index, were determined .Mechanical properties were studied in terms of tensile properties, stress at break, strain at break and Young's modulus have been determined by help of Universal Test Machine (UTM-3969).The results shows the ternary blends reveals shear-thinning behavior, over the range of the studied shear rates where the true shear rate of the blend decreases while increasing the shear rate. It also found that the true viscosity of the blend decreases with increased ABS content.

Rheological Properties Related to Extrusion of Polyolefins

Rheological properties related to the extrusion of polyolefins are the shear viscosity, the elongational viscosity, the slip velocity and their temperature- and pressure-dependencies. These properties are measured in the rheology lab mainly via a parallel-plate rheometer and a capillary rheometer. Then appropriate rheological models have to be used to account for all these properties. Such models are either viscous (e.g., the Cross model) or viscoelastic (e.g., the K-BKZ model). The latter gives the best fitting of the experimental data and offers excellent results in numerical simulations, especially in extrusion flows. Wall slip effects are also found and measured by rheometric flows. Modeling of extrusion flows should make use of appropriate slip models that take into effect the various slip parameters, including the effects of shear stress, molecular characteristics, temperature and pressure on the slip velocity. In this paper the importance of these properties in extrusion are discussed.

Investigation of Feedstock Preparation for Injection Molding of Oxide–Oxide Ceramic Composites

In this fundamental work, a series of experiments were performed to define the optimal amount of dispersant and solid content for feedstock with and without ceramic fibers (Nextel 610). Based on these fixed conditions, investigations were carried out to discover the effects of binder system, fiber sizing, and increasing fiber content on mixing and viscosity. In addition, the effects of kneading temperature and time, fiber sizing, and different binder systems on fiber length were investigated using a measuring mixer, high-pressure capillary rheometer, and microscopy. Stearic acid, as a dispersant, modified the particle surface and improved the rheological properties. Moreover, increasing the solid content in the feedstocks led to an exponential growth of final torque and relative viscosity, because of the increasing friction between particles. Paraffin wax (PW)- and polyethylene glycol (PEG)-based feedstocks showed different mixing behaviors and rheological results with increasing fiber, whereas PEG-based feedstocks had higher final torques and kneading energies without fibers, whilst PEG feedstocks displayed lower viscosities. Consequently, during kneading, the amount of fiber has been predominating over fiber length, and the effect of the binder, the kneading temperature, and time did not cause significant changes.