Mechanical Properties

· The elastic wave velocity can be used to determine elastic constants in specific directions in materials. An experimental configuration for sound speed determination is shown with an Aluminum single crystal.
· Piezoelectric quartz transducers can launch either longitudinal or transverse pulses into an elastic material and also detect the pulses reflected from the far end.
· Pulse propagation is described by a wave equation, which for longitudinal waves this has the form: (d²u/dt²) = (E/r )(d²u/dx²)
where the wave displacement u = f(x - ct)

From: Kittel, "Introduction to Solid State Physics," Wiley (1971)