Measurement of third-order elastic constants and applications to loaded structural materials

The objective of this study is to obtain the propagation velocity of an elastic wave in a loaded isotropic solid and to show the usefulness of the third-order elastic constant in determining properties of practical materials. As is well known, the infinitesimal elastic theory is unable to express the influence of stress on elastic wave propagating in loaded materials. To solve this problem, the authors derive an equation of motion for elastic wave in a finitely deformed state and use the Lagrangian description where the state before deformation is used as a reference, and Murnaghans finite deformation theory for the unidirectional deformed isotropic solid. Ordinary derivatives were used for the mathematical treatment and although the formulas are long the content is simple. The theory is applied to the measurement of the third-order elastic constants of common steels containing carbon of 0.22 and 0.32 wt%. Care is taken in preparing specimens to precise dimensions, in properly adhering of transducer to the surface of the specimen, and in having good temperature control during the measurements to obtain precise data. As a result, the stress at various sites in the structural materials could be estimated by measuring the elastic wave propagation times. The results obtained are graphed for illustration.