Ultrasonic transmission measurements in the characterization of viscoelasticity utilizing polymeric waveguides

Abstract

For the numerical simulation of acoustic wave propagation in (measurement) systems and their design, the use of reliable material models and material parameters is a central issue. Especially in polymers, acoustic material parameters cannot be evaluated based on quasistatically measured parameters, as are specified in data sheets by the manufacturers.In this work, a measurement method is presented which quantifies, for a given polymeric material sample, a complex-valued and frequency-dependent material model. A novel three-dimensional approach for modeling viscoelasticity is introduced. The material samples are designed as hollow cylindrical waveguides to account for the high damping characteristics of the polymers under test and to provide an axisymmetric structure for good performance of waveguide modeling and reproducible coupling conditions arising from the smaller coupling area in the experiment. Ultrasonic transmission measurements are carried out between the parallel faces of the sample. To account for the frequency dependency of the material properties, five different transducer pairs with ascending central frequency from to are used. After passing through the sample, each of the five received signals contains information on the material parameters which are determined in an inverse procedure. The solution of the inverse problem is carried out by iterative comparison of an innovative forward SBFEM-based simulations of the entire measurement system with the experimentally determined measurement data. For a given solution of the inverse problem, an estimate of the measurement uncertainty of each identified material parameter is calculated.Moreover, a second measurement setup, based on laser-acoustic excitation of Lamb modes in plate-shaped specimens, is presented. Using this setup, the identified material properties can be verified on samples with a varied geometry, but made from the same material.