Particle Size Distribution of Food Boluses and Validation of Simulation During Artificial Indenter Crushing

Abstract

Abstract To study the effects of indenter surface shapes on the crushing of foods, a double-tooth indenter (DTI), a single-tooth indenter (STI), a cylinder-type indenter (CTI) and a wave-type indenter (WTI) were developed by simulating the crown of human molar. Crushing experiments and analysis of finite element simulation were done. Crushing effect was determined by the wet sieving and weighing method; numerial simulations were performed for the crush process using the non-linear contact finite element method. The results showed that the DTI yielded the smallest median size among the four indenters, and the granulometric characteristics of food bolus are similar to human boluses, have higher von Mises stress value than others, higher crush efficiency, bigger crush stress, more stress concentration area than others. The crushing efficiencies of STI and CTI are very close. This study can improve the indenter parameters of texture analyzers and optimize the design process of a food chewing robot.