A fractional-order model on new experiments of linear viscoelastic creep of Hami Melon

This paper describes our experimental testing of linear viscoelastic creep behaviours in Hami Melon. Experimental data shows that Hami Melon has complex viscoelastic property which cannot be well described by the standard model. Consequently, this study develops a fractional derivative model to describe such complex viscoelastic creep behaviours of Hami Melon. The analytical creep function of the proposed fractional linear viscoelastic models is derived via the Boltzmann superposition principle and discrete inverse Laplace transform. And then, such analytical solutions are used to fit the experimental viscoelastic data of Hami Melon. Our study shows that the present fractional linear viscoelastic model with merely three parameters is more efficient and accurate than the generalised Kelvin viscoelastic model of six parameters to describe the stress strain constitutive relations of Hami Melon. It is noted that the present fractional model with adjustable parameters can also be used to describe creep damage. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.