Evaluating the deformation kinetics of sucrose crystals using microindentation techniques.

The deformation kinetics of sucrose crystals were evaluated using the Vickers microindentation technique. A (100) face of a crystal of sucrose was indented for varying lengths of time at temperatures ranging from 23 to 103 degrees C, and the deformation kinetics analysis proposed by Verrall et al. (1) was employed to calculate the strain rate and stress from the indentation time and the size of the indentation. Two kinetic parameters, the activation volume and the activation energy, were calculated from the experimental data and compared to those of other materials on normalized scales. The results suggest that the deformation kinetics of sucrose resemble those of ice, the crystal lattice of which is highly hydrogen-bonded, similar to that of sucrose.