Creep properties of blueberries under the Burgers model and finite element analysis of creep response

Abstract Currently, most studies on the fundamental mechanical behavior of fruits and vegetables treat them as linear elastic materials, which is inaccurate. This research focuses on the risk of excessive creep in blueberries under sustained static compression during storage and transportation. Through compression creep experiments, the Burgers model was employed for fitting, yielding the following parameters: γ 0 (2.944), γ 1 (39.2), n 2 (4.962), and T rel (36.1). Through compression creep simulation of blueberries, the macroscopic stress distribution pattern was analyzed, revealing that the fruit skin may be a key risk region for fatigue damage induced by prolonged creep. The obtained parameters and stress-strain patterns deepen the understanding of creep behavior, enrich the fundamental mechanics of blueberries, and provide a basis for optimizing processing, storage, and packaging technologies. Furthermore, this study established the correlation between temperature/ripeness and blueberry creep characteristics, thereby refining the theoretical framework for the viscoelastic mechanical behavior of blueberries.