Lloyd Instruments TG5011 Spaghetti and Pasta Compression Fixture
This Spaghetti and Pasta Compression Fixture was custom designed for one
of Italy's best-known manufacturers of traditionally made high quality
100% durum wheat pasta. The company wanted a test fixture to evaluate
various textural properties of cooked spaghetti under compression,
simulating human bite and mouth-feel.
Used in conjunction with a Lloyd Instruments test machine and data
analysis/applications software, the fixture was designed to compress a
small sample of pasta between two circular compression platens and to
measure the thickness at two specified loads. The jig uses the
compression plates as a load for compression. Thickness measurements are
taken before and after the test to measure the recovery of the sample
and to determine if it is a good or bad batch.
The fixture consists of a fixed lower compression platen and a top
compression platen attached to the base of a vertical rod which is
driven up or down by the system. The effective weight of the top plate
assembly is reduced to 15 g using a counterweight, which is attached via
a toothed belt. This belt is suspended over two pulleys, one of which
is attached to a high resolution encoder. When the top compression
plate moves, the encoder rotates to measure the postion of the top
compression platen.
Spec Sheet
