Sensitivity of Ultrasonic Attenuation and Velocity Changes to Plastic Deformation and Recovery in Aluminum

Abstract

Measurements of changes in ultrasonic attenuation together with changes in ultrasonic velocity have been made concurrently with load strain measurements in tensile tests on the same specimen of aluminum. The results of such measurements taken during loading of the specimen, during relaxation or recovery at constant strain, and during unloading show a number of interesting effects. These observed effects are interpreted in terms of dislocation behavior for the various stages of the experiment. The experimental results for attenuation α and velocity change Δv/v permit the calculation of changes in dislocation density and loop length based on a dislocation damping theory developed in this laboratory to include both megacycle and kilocycle frequencies. The strain due to dislocation motion was calculated with a simple model and with dislocation loop lengths and densities obtained from the data and the theory just mentioned. The comparison of the calculated strain and the measured strain lends support to the use of this model, and while this dislocation damping model may not be entirely correct it does seem to be possible to obtain information about stress‐strain behavior at low strains from sound propagation data alone.