| The Department of Materials Science &
Engineering has an apparatus called resonant ultrasound spectroscopy (RUS),
which provides a non-destructive and relatively inexpensive method of
determining a material’s elastic moduli such as Young’s modulus, shear
modulus, and Poisson’s ratio. The RUS method uses the inherent resonant
frequencies of a material to derive its dynamic elastic constants. The
sample is placed between two piezoelectric transducers; one excites the
sample over a range of frequencies while the other measures the
amplitude of the sample’s response. The resonant frequency spectrum of
the sample, together with its mass and dimensions, is used via iterative
calculations to obtain the complete set of elastic constants for the
material. REU student Sara Scarritt learned to use the RUS apparatus in
2002 and determined the elastic properties of some important phases in
lead-free Ag-Sn solder system. These results are now being prepared for
an REU publication. |
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