Experimental and Numerical Analysis for Prediction of Mechanical Properties of Eggshell

Egg is a complete food package. Importance and quality of this sealed food package rely on its invulnerability to external contaminants. Therefore, eggshell with no cracks and high resistance against loads during transportation, packaging, and so on is recommended. There are two methods for measurement of shell resistance: destructive and nondestructive methods. Modeling and simulation of eggshell by computer and finite element software (FEM) is one of the nondestructive methods which was used in this study to measure eggshell resistance. ANSYS 10 software was utilized to perform finite element analysis. In destructive testing of 90 hen eggs, the average eggshell rupture force was determined to be 22.7 N at 0.144 mm displacement when applying parallel plate force. Results of the finite element analysis showed that for 0.144 mm displacement, the estimated rupture force was 21.7 N. Results of FE analysis showed that maximum stress and displacement occurred at the point of application of the force interface with the supports and at the equator. Stress value at failure point was 14.307 MPa for the first principal stress, 8.75 MPa for the second and -0.028 MPa for the third principal stress by finite element method.