Squeeze flow of potato starch gel: effect of loading history on visco-elastic properties

In this work gelatinized potato starch is shown to retain the memory of past loading history. It exhibits a visco-elastic response which does not depend solely on instantaneous conditions. A simple squeeze flow experiment is performed, where loading is done in two steps with a time lag $\tau \sim$ seconds between the steps. The effect on the strain, of varying $\tau$ is reproduced by a three element visco-elastic solid model. Non-linearity is introduced through a generalized calculus approach by incorporating a non-integer order time derivative in the viscosity equation. A strain hardening proportional to the time lag between the two loading steps is also incorporated. This model reproduces the three salient features observed in the experiment, namely - the memory effect, slight initial oscillations in the strain as well as the long-time solid-like response. Dynamic visco-elasticity of the sample is also reported.