Damping at high homologous temperature in pure Cd, In, Pb, and Sn

Abstract

Typically, if a material possesses the stiffness necessary to be considered a structural material, its damping is low. Conversely, materials with high damping usually do not possess the stiffness necessary to be considered a structural material. Candidate materials for the high stiffness-low damping phase exist in abundance, whereas candidate materials for the moderate stiffness-high damping phase remain to be identified. One possible class of candidate materials for the moderate stiffness-high damping phase is metals at high homologous temperatures. Shear moduli of the specimens at 100 Hz are as follows: 4.1 GPa for indium, 5.7 GPa for lead, 15.7 GPa for tin, and 20.7 GPa for cadmium. Considering the behavior typical of metals, one may think of In and Pb as relatively compliant, while Sn and Cd could be called moderately stiff. The results are of some technological interest in view of the utility of materials with moderately high stiffness and damping. The combination of moderate stiffness and reasonably high loss tangent makes Cd the most promising metal tested with respect to technological applications. The shear modulus of Cd was highest of the metals tested (and very near that of aluminum (G = 27 GPa), which exhibits a loss tangent ofmore » about 0.001 at room temperature). The loss tangent of Cd at audio-frequencies was as high or higher than that of the other metals. In addition, frequency dependence of loss tangent was not as large as that observed in the other metals. No clear pattern relating damping to melting point emerged. An understanding in terms of viscoelastic mechanisms is not forthcoming at this time. Among the metal studied, cadmium exhibited a substantial loss tangent of 0.03 to 0.04 over much of the audio range, combined with a moderate stiffness, G = 20.7 GPa.« less