Micro-mechanical model development for predicting the effect of microstructure on bulk behaviour of aerated soft solids.

软食品系统通常用于糖果产品，例如乳液或泡沫填充物，以向消费者提供放纵和独特的体验。传统上，这些系统的机械和流变学特性结合感官评价来研究，以描述它们在口中的流动特性。然而，食物的口腔加工是非常复杂的，几个多尺度机制在口腔中同时发生。当处理更复杂的系统时，例如当半固体系统中包含硬颗粒（夹杂物）或具有不同微观和宏观结构的产品（例如充气系统）时，这一点尤其明显。这阻碍了对食物在口中行为的预测。对这种行为的了解至关重要，因为它直接与感官知觉有关。其目的是开发模型，用于预测耦合现象，包括流动和断裂/损伤现象，以在口腔过程中的热流和相变，以及随后的复杂的相互作用的食物块与口腔表面（舌腭接触），因为食物变成一个'团'咀嚼和唾液混合。需要开发一个多尺度的热力学计算模型，用于模拟口腔中充气流体和固体结构（尺度为10-2 m至10-3 m）之间的相互作用。

Soft food systems are often used in confectionery products, such as emulsion or foam fillings, to provide consumers with an indulgent and unique experience. Traditionally, the mechanical and rheological properties of these systems are studied in combination with sensory evaluation to describe their in-mouth flow properties. However, oral processing of food is very complex and several multi-scale mechanisms take place at the same time in the mouth. This is especially noticeable when dealing with more complex systems, e.g. when hard particles (inclusions) are included within a semi solid system, or products with different micro- and macroscopic structure, e.g. aerated systems. This hinders predictions of the in-mouth behaviour of the food. Knowledge of this behaviour is crucial as it is directly linked to sensory perception. The aim is to develop models for predicting the coupled phenomena involving flow and fracture/damage phenomena to heat flow and phase change during the oral process as well as the ensuing complex interaction of the food pieces with the mouth surfaces (tongue-palate contact) as food turns into a 'bolus' on mastication and mixes with saliva. A multi-scale thermomechanical computational model needs to be developed for simulating the interaction between aerated fluid and solid structures (scales 10-2 m to 10-3 m) in the oral cavity.