| Abstract: | Shallow beds (3–9 mm) of two commercial agglomerated spray dried instant coffees were compressed using a Universal testing machine. the stress-stress relationships had the sigmoid shape characteristic of cellular solids and could be described by a four parameter model originally developed for solid foams. the magnitude of the model parameters was less sensitive to the relative humidity level at storage in the range of 11–65% than to the bed's thickness. the jaggedness of the stress-strain relationship is a manifestation of the particles brittleness and crumbliness and it is considerably reduced when they are plasticized, as a result of moisture uptake, for example. the degree of jaggedness, determined in the normalized (dimensionless) stress-strain relationships, could be qualified and compared in terms of an apparent (“natural”) fractal dimension. It was calculated from the linear region of the corresponding Richardson plots using the “blanket” algorithm. This apparent fractal dimension, however, was only a relative measure of jaggedness, since both the scales and resolution of the mechanical signatures were arbitrarily selected. the jaggedness of the individual agglomerates signatures could not be directly inferred from those of their assemblies, primarily because the effects of averaging and the bed's cushioning could not be separated. |
