Preliminary investigation of pasta extrusion process: rheological characterization of semolina dough

Rheological measurements were conducted on semolina doughs. Two doughs were considered, one directly taken from an extrusion plant and another mixed in lab conditions. A rotational viscometer was used in the plate-plate configuration. Creep tests were carried on too, to verify the possibility to neglect the elastic component of strain. It was investigated the influence of the temperature on the viscous behaviour of both doughs, while only on the lab mixed dough was tested the influence of moisture content. The aim of this research is the determination of a rheological model useful for a subsequent CFD analysis of the extrusion process.