3rd Edition

Polymer and Food Rheology Volume 1, Applications to Single-Phase Systems

By Rakesh K. Gupta, Mahesh Padmanabhan Copyright 2026
230 Pages 119 B/W Illustrations
by CRC Press

230 Pages 119 B/W Illustrations
by CRC Press

The science of rheology and its applications have grown steadily. Although polymers dominated in the past, the applications to foods have become increasingly important over the last four decades. The complexity of food rheology has not only generated increased interest among academics, but it has also led to an increased recognition of its importance in the food industry. Emphasizing physics... Read more

Preface. Chapter 1. Introduction to Rheology. Chapter 2. Instruments for Shear Rheology. Chapter 3. Shear Viscosity of Polymeric Melts. Chapter 4. Shear Viscosity of Polymer Solutions. Chapter 5. Normal Stress Differences in Polymers During Shear Flow. Chapter 6. Dynamic Mechanical Properties. Chapter 7. Extensional Viscosity. Appendix: Analysis of Alveography to Extract Biaxial Extensional Rheological Behavior.

Biography

Rakesh K. Gupta is Professor and George B. & Carolyn A. Berry chair in the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at West Virginia University (WVU), where he has been teaching since 1992. He received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Delaware in 1980 and his B.Tech. degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India, in 1975, both in chemical engineering. Before coming to WVU, he taught at the State University of New York at Buffalo for almost 11 years. He has also worked briefly for Monsanto, DuPont, and Braskem America. His research is focused on the processing and rheology of polymers and foods and also on polymer composites and nanocomposites. He has authored or coauthored over 135 journal papers, 80 conference proceedings papers, and 22 book chapters on these topics. He also holds four U.S. patents. He is the coauthor of the textbook Fundamentals of Polymer Engineering (now in the third edition) and coeditor of (1) Handbook of Polymer Nanocomposites and (2) Graphite, Graphene and Their Polymer Nanocomposites. While his polymer rheology research has been supported by a variety of federal, state, and private sources, his food rheology research has primarily been funded by Kraft Foods and Mondelēz International. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Vinyl and Additive Technology, and he is a Fellow of the Society of Plastics Engineers.

Mahesh Padmanabhan is a Research Fellow in the areas of Rheology, Texture, and Physical Sciences at Mondelēz International, based in East Hanover, New Jersey; he also holds an Adjunct Professor of Chemical Engineering appointment at West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia. He has been with Mondelēz (previously Kraft Foods and Nabisco Foods) for over 28 years, applying the principles of rheology and physical sciences, developing methods and insights for a range of industrial problems and food systems: from ingredients, formulation, structure-property relations, processing, manufacturing, quality, to product texture related to consumer perception. Before joining Mondelēz, Dr. Padmanabhan led the Rheology Lab of the Adhesives Division at the National Starch & Chemical Company, Bridgewater, New Jersey, following a postdoctoral fellowship in chemical engineering at the University of Minnesota. He received his B.Tech. (Hons.) degree (1985) from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India, M.S. (1989) and Ph.D. (1992) degrees from the University of Minnesota (St. Paul), all in agricultural engineering, and an M.S. (1993) in chemical engineering, also from the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis).