Propagation of a stress pulse in a viscoelastic rod

Experimental work is reported on the propagation of a stress pulse in a viscoelastic waveguide. The data obtained are compared with results of analysis using one-dimensional wave-propagation theory. The waveguide used in this work is a low-density polyethylene rod 1/2 in. in diameter and 30-in. long. Stress input to the waveguide and the resulting particle velocity at three stations are measured using a crystal stress transducer, two Faraday-principle velocity transducers and a capacitor transducer. The experiment is described mathematically as a boundary-value problem formulated in terms of the one-dimensional equation of motion, the strain-displacement relationship, a hereditary constitutive equation and the stress-boundary condition. Fourier transform and inversion yield an integral expression for velocity which is evaluated numerically at three stations using measured values for the stress-boundary condition, material attenuation and phase velocity. The analytical results compare favorably with the experimental data. The one-dimensional theory appears adequate to describe pulse propagation of this type. The attenuation and phase velocity used here are found to be a linear function and a logarithmic increasing function of frequency respectively.