Free vibrations of viscoelastic materials with high damping

The theoretical basis for the determination of dynamic moduli of viscoelastic materials using free vibrations is critically reviewed. A new method is proposed which consists in a Fourier analysis of the response of the viscoelastic material to a pulse. This pulse spectrometry should offer a number of advantages, notably an unproved accuracy of the measurements, independence from critical damping conditions and determination of the dynamic moduli within a frequency window in one experiment.