Resonant ultrasound spectroscopy: Sensitivity analysis for anisotropic materials with hexagonal symmetry

Abstract

Resonance ultrasound spectroscopy (RUS) is an experimental method for measuring the elastic properties of a material. A sample is excited to vibrate, and its resonant frequencies are measured. From the resonant frequencies and mode shapes, a complete set of elastic constants can be extracted. This result is not always reliable, however. In some cases, the resonant frequencies are insensitive to changes in certain elastic constants or their linear combinations. Previous work has been done to characterize these sensitivity issues in materials with isotropic and cubic symmetry. This work examines the sensitivity of elastic constant measurements by the RUS method for materials with hexagonal symmetry, such as titanium-diboride. We investigate the reliability of RUS data and explore supplemental measurements to obtain an accurate and complete set of elastic constants.