L'enjeu des travaux contenus dans cette thèse est la caractérisation rhéologique de suspensions concentrées d'objets viscoplastiques suspendus dans une matrice viscoplastique. Trois contraintes physiques se présentent : l'hétérogénéité des objets, la taille des objets au regard de la taille du système étudié, et la proximité entre la consistance de la phase suspendante et celle des objets. Dans notre contexte alimentaire, il faut ajouter des contraintes d'ordre biologique : les faibles durées de vie des produits, les prélèvements in vivo et la conservation des conditions de températures et d'humidité. L'ensemble de ces contraintes aboutit à une rhéométrie spécifique, aux frontières de la mécanique des milieux continues, avec pour objectif de mesurer des propriétés rhéologiques pertinentes. Pour cela, deux instrumentations originales ont été construites pour effectuer la caractérisation rhéologique le plus vite et au plus près de la génération des échantillons.Appliquée aux bols alimentaires issus de fromage, leur rhéologie vient gouverner les écoulements en bouche et induire la création de surface d'échange en bouche, au travers de la mastication. Au travers de ces interfaces, les arômes et les sapides sont libérés et transportés vers les récepteurs sensoriels. Les résultats montrent le lien entre le seuil de contrainte à l'écoulement du bol et la libération d'arômes de différents hydrophobicités, fonction de la fermeté et du taux de matières grasses du fromage. Plus particulièrement, la phase suspendante fluide, semble jouer un rôle majeur dans la création et la persistance des surfaces d'échanges. Appliquée aux jus gastriques issus de pain, l'enjeu est de savoir si des modifications des contenus en glucides pouvaient impacter la rhéologie des jus gastriques, modifier les cinétiques de vidange en sortie d'estomac, et diminuer l'excursion glycémique. Les résultats montrent l'effet d'un ajout d'amylose sur l'augmentation de la viscosité aux temps de digestion longs, lorsque la rhéologie n'est plus gouvernée par l'encombrement des particules de pain gonflées d'eau. Cependant, l'amylose ne semble pas avoir d'impact sur les cinétiques de vidange, ce qui vient conforter que le débit en sortie d'estomac est régulé par la charge énergétique contenue dans le repas. / The challenge of this work is to carry out the rheological characterization of concentrated suspensions of viscoplastic objects suspended in a viscoelastic matrix. Three structural constraints are faced: the heterogeneity of the particles, the size of particle in relation to the size of the whole system studied, and the proximity between the consistency of the suspending phase and that the consistency of the particles. In the food context, some biological constraints are added: small lifetimes of bolus, in vivo sampling and test conditions of temperature and humidity. All these constraints lead to a compromise in rheometry, at the edge of continuum mechanics, aiming to measure useful rheological properties. To carry out the rheological characterizations quickly and efficiently, two original devices has been designed trough this work. Applied to food bolus from cheese, rheology comes to govern flows in the mouth and induce the creation of exchange area in the mouth, during the chewing process. Through these interfaces, the savors and flavors are released and transported to the sensory receptors. The results show the relationship between the yield stress of the bolus and flavors release of different hydrophobic aromas, depending on the firmness and fat content of the cheeses. Specifically, fluid suspending matrix appears to play a major role in the creation and persistence of exchange area.Applied to gastric juice from bread, the issue is whether changes in carbohydrate content could impact the rheology of gastric juice, modify the kinetics of stomach flow rate, and decrease the glycemic excursion. The results show the effect of amylose addition on increasing the viscosity for long digestion time, when the rheology is no longer governed by the jamming effect of the particles made of water-swollen bread. However, amylose does not seem to have any impact on the kinetics of emptying, which reinforces that the stomach flow rate is regulated by the caloric charge contained in the meal.

<p dir="ltr">Non-Newtonian fluid models such as the Bingham and Herschel-Bulkley models are used to characterize the flow behavior of many complex fluids and soft solids. The three parameter Herschel-Bulkley model captures the yield stress behavior and the nonlinear power law behavior. In this thesis, the semi-analytical solution of Herschel-Bulkley fluids provided by Covey and Stanmore is used to experimentally characterize the squeeze flow behavior. A ‘Squeeze Flow and Thermal Resistance Tester’ was custom designed to perform velocity controlled squeeze flow experiments. The tester has an additional capability of performing thermal resistance characterization adhering to the ASTM-D5470 standard. A novel framework is described for characterizing the three Herschel-Bulkley parameters (τy, n and ηHB) using the developed tester. </p><p dir="ltr">Thermal Interface Materials (TIMs) are used to efficiently dissipate heat from a heat generating component to a heat sink in an electronic package. Thermal grease is a type of TIM comprising of a base material (e.g. polymer) loaded with highly conducting filler particles (e.g, boron nitride, alumina or sometimes conducting metals such as aluminum or silver). These greases are expected to exhibit Herschel-Bulkley flow behavior. Hence, thermal greases are used as candidate materials for squeeze flow characterization. In addition to the flow characterization, the thermal resistance across these thermal greases are also characterized using the custom designed tester. Characterization of mechanical and thermal behavior of TIMs is crucial to predicting their long-term reliability. </p><p dir="ltr">The effect of in-situ isothermal baking duration and test temperature on flow behavior is studied. The increase in duration of isothermal baking at test temperature of 55◦C showed that the material tends to stiffen with baking duration. The increase in test temperature from 5◦C to 100◦C resulted in a decrease in the power law index n and viscosity ηHB. </p><p dir="ltr">Finally, a numerical simulation strategy for performing squeeze flow simulations is described. The characterized flow parameters from the squeeze flow experiments were used as input material parameters for a dynamic mesh-based numerical simulation of squeeze flow between parallel surfaces. The results of the experimental force response and numerical simulation results were compared and found to be in close agreement. In order to simulate flow of thermal greases in a package undergoing deformation, a non-flat test setup was fabricated and squeeze experiments were performed. Numerical simulations were subsequently performed for the non-flat surface using material parameters extracted from previous experiments and the results were compared. The results from both experiments and numerical simulations showed that the force response of thermal greases under non-flat surfaces was significantly higher than the planar case.</p>